Oops
by xxTeam-Masterxx
Summary: Zoey and The Master have been tiptoeing around eachother for years, but when Zoey finally cracks and decides to do something about it, she finds herself in too deep with more than she bargained for... Doctor/Rose eventual Master/Zoey
1. Chapter 1

**Hi again!!!! This is another story containing my own charcter Zoey and the Master, it starts just before the Girl in the Fireplace and continues from there, I hope you enjoy it**

**xxTheDoctorisinxx**

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The Doctor closed the door solemnly, saying goodbye was not one of his favourite pastimes, especially when it was someone that he cared for and respected, he would miss Sarah Jane Smith, but something in his gut told him that he would see her again, it just wasn't sure when. He turned to face the remaining control room occupants, none too shocked to see only Zoey and the Master, who were sitting whispering to each other on the captain's chair. The doctor proceeded to walk over to them only to discover he had walked into a danger zone, the two were having another argument and this could turn nasty, he wanted to get out of here before either of them involved him, they both knew how to press all the right buttons and guilt trip him into joining the argument. He carefully walked toward the corridor, congratulating himself on his ability to sneak past them he took another few steps before he heard his name being called from the control room, damn, maybe his thoughts of becoming resident ninja were ill placed. He grudgingly turned back around and scrapped his heels as he once again found himself in the control room.

"You called" he said dryly, his body itching to run as far from this argument as he could.

"Yes I did" Zoey replied placing her hands on her hips, looking far more elegant than should be possible, her shocking blue eyes were narrowed, and her eyebrows knitted tightly together, her brown hair falling deliberately on her shoulders. "I need you to tell me that I am right"

The Doctor grinned this could be easier than he thought, going out on a limb he answered her "You're right" the triumphant smirk was wiped off his face as quickly has it had appeared as her expression became murderous. He heard a undisguised snigger come from the master and the doctor was glad he wasn't as close to Zoey as the master was at that exact moment, Zoey turned and gave him an ice cold stare, her fists clenching as her gaze flicked to the mallet and back to the master, causing the latter to abruptly stop sniggering and gulp audibly.

"You don't even know what I'm right about" Zoey ground out through gritted teeth

"Well then tell me" The Doctor said in defeat, deciding that just going along with this was easier than fighting.

"Why do you always take her side" The Master gave out a petulant cry, sounding very much like a five year old.

"I don't _always _take her side, only, sometimes" the Doctor reasoned

"You do always take her side" the master complained frowning at the doctor

The Doctor stared at the two disbelievingly, one minute he is asked to prove Zoey right the next minute he is the one in the wrong and the direction of the argument has shifted to him, it just isn't fair. He started hoping that someone, anyone would save him from this nightmare, he didn't care who at the moment, ok that was a lie he wanted it to be Rose, but even Mickey the Idiot would be welcome right about now.

And then as if by some stroke of pure luck, Mickey stormed into the control room, the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, the Master groaned and Zoey gave a false smile in Mickey's general direction, the three time lords stopped their fighting and turned their attention to the annoyed human.

"What's wrong now Mickey" The Master sighed, showing his usual level of tolerance for the human

"Nothing to do with you" Mickey spat sharply, not seeing how Rose could think so highly of the Master.

"Hey! He's only asking no need to bite his head off" Zoey spoke up causing an incredulous snort form the Doctor "What?" she snapped at him

"You were fighting with him not five minutes ago" the doctor said completely lost with whatever was happening in front of him

"Yeah yeah that was then this is now" she sighed before turning to Mickey and demanding "What is wrong?"

Mickey shrugged, he didn't know how to describe what was wrong with him, it was Rose mainly, she was acting guiltily and as if she didn't want him around, like he wasn't good enough for her. And he was unsure of the company that she kept, the Doctor seemed to be a threat to his and Rose's relationship, whatever that was at the moment, Zoey just seemed cocky and too smart for her own good, and the Master well, where did he start, he had seen him in that school, the master had almost been a different person, when the Krillotane things were after him, he had this whole presence that made Mickey want to turn and run.

"Well thank you for that Mickey that was very insightful, nothing like a shrug to tell everyone what's wrong with you" the Master said, annoyance evident in his voice

"Anyway" the Doctor drawled trying to avert another argument, we should be landing right about..." he was interrupted by a violent shaking and a sharp stop which threw everyone to the ground, he could hear Zoey grumbling and Mickey cursing under his breath.

The Master stood up quickly dusting himself down and turning to the doctor offering a patronising "Now?" the doctor simply glared and ran to the doors, at this moment Rose stormed in.

"What the hell are you all doing? I leave you for 10 minutes and this is what happens" she said her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised at the four people before her.

"We've just landed" Zoey stated "As you can tell, the doctor is still incapable of driving" allowing herself a sly grin as the doctor grimaced and walked to the door, purposefully ignoring the other occupants.

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**Well thats it for this chapter please review and tell me what you think, it will get better i promise!! **


	2. Chapter 2

Stepping outside the Tardis, Zoey allowed herself a sweeping gaze and she sighed, it could never be an exotic planet could it? It always had to be some abandoned spaceship or a creepy hospital and it gave Zoey shivers, the place just didn't feel right, maybe that was just her, because the doctor was bounding around as if there was no tomorrow, she concluded that this regeneration had some weird time lord ADHD. She watched the master step out and blink hard a couple of times, good, he must feel it too, that horrible tingling all over his body, damn gut instinct, he glanced at her worriedly and moved next to her taking her hand in hers, gripping it tightly, she could feel his tremors in her own hand and she decided to give his a squeeze in reassurance, the small smile told her he was grateful but it didn't make the situation any better.

Once everyone was out they proceeded to walk forwards, the master still clutching Zoey's hand as if his life depended on it, drawing in shaky breaths as he walked, every sense was telling him to turn and run as far from here as he could, a stark contrast to how his life used to be.

"It's a space ship, brilliant, a space ship on my first go" Mickey says excitedly staring at his surroundings in awe.

The Master takes this as the perfect opportunity to annoy the human and smirks evilly, letting go of Zoey's hand he walks up to Mickey and slings an arm around his shoulders, which Mickey tries desperately to get off. Rose giggles along with Zoey as they watch the exchange, it shouldn't be funny but it was, the master really did know how to get to the human.

"Mickey, Mickey, Mickey what are we going to do with you?" the master asks condescendingly giving Mickey a sickly sweet smile "Of course it's a spaceship, what else is it going to be? A jumbo jet maybe" he jeers, enjoying the scowl that is sent his way.

"Master" the doctor sighs, giving him an annoyed stare "Leave him alone"

"Aww, but it's fun" the master whines, pouting in a way that would make butter melt, seeing that the doctor wasn't going to stand for it this time, he muttered "Fine, I'll leave him be"

The Master grudgingly let Mickey go and made his way to where Zoey was trying and failing to disguise a snort at his ill fortune, he gave her a murderous stare but she merely sniggered more, folding his arms he huffed and proceeded to sulk, hoping there would be benefits to acting like a 5 year old.

"Wow, it looks so real" the Master heard Mickey gasp and he had resist the strong urge to storm back into the Tardis and pick up the mallet so that he could beat Mickey into the middle of next week with it. Hard. Grinning to himself he walked forward a little before noticing a fireplace, eyeing it sceptically he makes his way over to it, and turns to the doctor. "Is it just me, or is an 18th century fireplace on that bulkhead?"

"Oh now that's just not right" Zoey says looking at the fireplace, with a look of pure shock on her face.

"No there is definitely a fireplace on that bulkhead" Mickey answered hoping that this time the Master would give him a look that wasn't condescending, grinning a little when the Time Lord turned around only to have the grin wiped off of his face when the Master fixed him with an ice cold glare and took one menacing step towards him.

"Mickey" the Master began calmly, taking a deep breath he levelled his gaze and asked "Do you have any idea what a rhetorical question is?" His fists clenched tightly by his side.

"Yeah, course I do" Mickey answered his brain working as quickly as he could trying to remember exactly what a rhetorical question was.

"Well then what is it?"

"Um...a question that doesn't require an answer" Mickey mumbled hazarding a guess

"Well done, you do know something, well why do you think I asked you? This one isn't rhetorical by the way"

"You didn't know what one was?" Mickey replied quickly, seeing that that was the wrong thing to say as the master frowned and began to walk towards him like a predator would advance on its prey. He sighed in relief when Zoey took the Masters hand a steered him away and back towards the fireplace.

"Let's concentrate on why there is an 18th century fireplace on the bulkhead shall we?" Zoey said brightly, hoping that it would be enough to distract the master from thoughts of killing Mickey.

"Yes" Rose answered quickly, before either Mickey or the Master could get into another fight, it was almost as bad as the time they had travelled with Jack, and Rose inwardly winced _almost, _thanking some higher power that the Master liked Mickey a tiny bit, she grinned and bounded toward the fireplace, skidding to a halt and brushing her hair out of her face she looked intently at the doctor trying to understand what he was saying as he talked at a thousand miles an hour. She allowed herself a glance at her travelling companions, holding back a snort as she saw Zoey still standing in between the Master and Mickey who were glaring daggers at each other, Zoey had the look of someone who was seriously trying to restrain themselves from doing something they would regret.

"Not even a reproduction, this actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace. Double-sided, there's another room through there" the Doctor said crouching down to look through

"What are you serious?" the Master asks surging forwards all thoughts of annoying Mickey gone

"I'm always serious" the Doctor mutters to himself as he the Master crouches beside him "Look" he points to the room behind the fireplace

"Oh that is just brilliant" the Master says admiringly, looking again through to the other room he sees a young girl staring back at him, "Um doctor we have a problem"

"Ah, hello"

"Hello" the girl answers nervously her gaze flicking between the doctor and the master

"What's your name?" the master asks, his voice encouraging

"Reinette, what's yours?"

The Master swallows hard, then grins "Harry Saxon"

"Saxon...how very...English" Reinette answers

The Master looks at her affronted and with mild annoyance wondering whether he should correct her, before deciding that she was only a child and added "You don't miss a trick do you?"

Reinette looked puzzled for a moment before shrugging "Can I ask you a question?"

"Fire away" the Doctor answered giving her a 100 kilowatt smile

"Why are you in my fireplace?"

"Hmm good question" the Master said, wondering what answer he should give to a young girl

"It is isn't it, tricky one that" the Doctor mused

"Routine fire check, what city are we in?" the master said quickly congratulating himself in the process

"Paris" she says almost in a disbelieving tone

"Ah Paris, I love Paris they have these lovely...ow!" the Doctor started to ramble before he was hit in the side by the master.

"What year is it? My mind has completely blanked" the doctor asked, scowling at the master who simply rolled his eyes, smirking evilly.

"Seventeen hundred and twenty seven"

"Right ok, your fire is um good, night"

"Goodnight Monsieur"

Both the Doctor and the Master stood at the same time, confused looks on their faces.

"That was weird" Mickey said suddenly

The grin spread back across the master's face as he asked "What was weird Mickey?"

"She was in France, but she spoke English, how?" he questioned puzzled

Before the Master could reply Rose jumped in, saving Mickey from any further humiliation "It's the Tardis it translates different languages for you"

"Even French?"

"Even French" Rose grinned, poking her tongue at the Master who looked truly scandalised

"Right period French too, Doctor I think we have found the hole in the universe you were rambling about, it's a spatial-temporal fluxuation resulting in a gap in the space time continuum" Zoey says her brain finally coming to terms with what is going on.

"Huh" Mickey asked looking confused

"Too many big words Mickey?" the Master asked, a sadistic smile creeping over his face

"No! I just wanna know what it is"

"A Magic door" the Doctor said as Zoey and the Master gave him condescending looks "What?" he asked "I'm simplifying" he justified


	3. Chapter 3

It was safe to say that Zoey was pissed, really pissed, they had been waiting 5 hours for the Master and the Doctor to find their way back after playing the gallant heroes and so far there had been nothing, zilch, zip. Oh she could still feel them both in her head, but no longer in their usual annoying intensity, all she could hear were quiet murmurs, distant echoes of conversation. She let out the breath she didn't realise that she had been holding, and rose from her seat, to fiddle with the console before kicking it angrily, which earned her a sharp mental jab from the Tardis and a really sore foot. She could leave, she knew that she could, they had gone through those time windows knowing that they couldn't get back, and she knew painfully that she couldn't go and get them, so her only choices were to leave and continue alone, or stay and wait. She chose to wait, for Rose's sake, and for the Doctor, at the moment she was too annoyed to even consider waiting for the Master. She felt betrayed by him, he had kissed Reinette! Kissed her, full on proper kiss, and what had she got? Not a bloody thing! Sure that was selfish but what did he expect from her? They had been getting closer over the past year and a half and he knew that, she slumped back down onto the captain's chair and sighed, it wasn't fair, after everything he hadn't even considered how she might have felt if he just left. She heard footsteps pad into the control room and she turned to see Rose, rubbing her eyes violently to hide the tears.

"Hey" Zoey said softly, looking at Rose with wide eyes, also starting to brim with tears she was trying to hide.

"Hey, any sign of them?" Rose asked, the begging tone in her voice was painfully evident

"No, I'm sorry, there's just nothing" she groaned and rubbed her face with her hand "I'm going out of my mind here" she admitted, her voice resigned, Rose gulped, she had only heard Zoey speak like that once, and it was a time that still sent shivers down Rose's spine, it was when the Doctor had sent them both back from Satellite 5, after he had blocked Zoey's memory of how to get back to him and the Master, it was terrifying.

_Defeat_

Rose moved to the Captain's chair and sat down beside her, hoping to provide some sort of moral support, she looked into Zoey's eyes to see the time lords emotions finally betraying her, there was a storm in those eyes, Rose could see everything that Zoey was feeling, pain, loss, frustration, anger, love. The last one didn't shock Rose, not at all; she knew how Zoey felt about the Master even if she didn't.

"Why did he do it Rose?" Zoey asked letting her head fall back so that she could stare at the ceiling.

"Do what?"

"Just leave, without even saying a word"

"I don't know, really I don't, maybe he was afraid"

"Of what?"

"Saying goodbye, maybe he knew that if he said anything to you then he wouldn't be able to go through with it, that he would have to stay, and he knew that he couldn't do that, he knew he had to help the doctor, just like before"

Zoey nodded, turning to Rose and saying "I saw by the way"

Rose blushed, knowing immediately what Zoey was talking about, it was the searing kiss she and the doctor had shared before he left "Oh" was all Rose could say back to her, she was about to defend herself when Zoey snapped her head up, her eyes alert, she leaned forward as if straining to hear something, and then she grinned, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her off of the chair, shouting for Mickey in the process, she hurtled out of the Tardis over to the fireplace.

"Zoey what is it? What have you heard?"

"The noise in this ship, it's pitched up at least 60Htz, something is still working" she grinned foolishly bouncing on her heels as she waited.

"I can't hear anything" Mickey said, the fear of humiliation clear in his voice

"You and Rose wont, you're human" Zoey grinned to him, and Mickey smiled, finally he wasn't being ridiculed

"Does that mean?" Rose asked not daring to believe what she was thinking

"Yep, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" Zoey counted on her hand and the fireplace swung around revealing the Doctor, the Master...and Reinette.

The grin that had lit up Zoey's face was wiped away and replaced with a cold stare, anger surged through her as she took in the sight before her. Reinette stood with a small smile on her face, her hand on the Masters arm.

"Hello, I don't believe we have met, I'm" Reinette only managed part of her sentence before Zoey answered quickly through gritted teeth "I know who you are, if you'll excuse me", turning on her heel and storming back into the Tardis slamming the door behind her.

"Oh Master you've really done it this time" Rose said as she turned to chase Zoey before pausing and turning back to kiss the doctor soundly "Nice to have you back" she whispered, looking to Reinette in a clear gesture of ´Hands offˋ, then running back to the Tardis in search of her best friend.

"Well that was awkward" the Doctor said nonchalantly, ignoring the stunned look from Mickey and Reinettes raised eyebrows, instead focussing on the Masters down cast face, yep he had it bad, his love for Zoey clear in unguarded eyes. Placing his hand on his best friends shoulder, he gave it a tight squeeze, causing the master to look up and offer a weak smile.

"Come on lets go inside" the doctor announced, taking Reinettes hand and leading her in, leaving a stunned Mickey and a downtrodden Master to follow in silence.

***

Zoey paced around her room, she needed to be doing something, _anything_ that would stop her from ringing the Master's neck, she picked up the alarm clock that she had for decoration and hurled it against the wall as hard as she could throw it. The sound of the clock hitting the wall wasn't enough so she searched for something heavier, finding an old stereo she must have bought when she first came to Earth, she picked it up and threw it, the satisfying thunk as the stereo shattered against the wall calmed her a little. She fell to her bed and was subjected to a ten minute tirade from the Tardis that would make even the old Master wince, but she tried not to care, she had to do anything to stop her becoming catatonic. Her mind tried to fathom why Reinette was here, surely this messed up the timelines, and she could feel the gentle pressure in her head of time moulding around the new direction that Reinettes life had taken. A soft knock at the door disturbed her from her thoughts.

"Come in Rose"

Rose pushed the door open slowly, walking into the room "How did you know that it was me?"

"No one else knocks" Zoey said trying to smile

"He really got you this time huh?"

"Yeah, I just don't know why, I need to know, I need to solve the puzzle, I'm like House. I have the Rubik's complex"

Rose snorted "Yeah you are in that respect, needing the answers and all that, if you didn't think of it then it isn't possible, that kind of thing"

"Yeah"

"Look, I think you should come into the control room" Rose said, plunging into the deep end, watching Zoey's eyes flash dangerously.

"No way am I going in there with _her_"

"Zoey, come on, just walk in like it hasn't bothered you, Reinette is a bitch, she knows that this is getting to you and she's loving it"

"So you want me to go in there and pretend everything is ok?"

"Well, yeah"

"Rose, I'm a lot of things but I'm not a masochist"

"Control room. Now" Rose demanded as she stood up

"No"

"Then she has already won" Rose said as she left the room

"Wait!" Zoey shouted as she got up and followed Rose out of the room

"What made you change your mind"

"Zoey Saxon never loses" she grinned, but Rose couldn't hide from the slightly menacing tone in her voice


	4. Chapter 4

The Master sat fidgeting in the control room, no matter how hard he tried the image of Zoey's face when she had seen him and the doctor bring Reinette through that fireplace was forever burned into his memory, he didn't think he had ever seen her look at him like that, and it cut through him, he would rather face millions of Daleks on his own than see her look at him like that again. He tried to drag up pictures of their previous adventures, anything that had her looking at him as though he was the best thing in the universe. Not what he had seen before, betrayal, disgust, anger, loss, the latter hit him the hardest, that was a constant kick in the gut, she felt like she had lost him. He heard a pair of footsteps enter the control room and he flicked his eyes up thinking it was Mickey and the Doctor coming back from the kitchen, but he saw Zoey and Rose. Oh and there was that look again, he sighed and got up to leave, but was stopped by a hand on his arm, he followed the offending limb and saw Reinette holding him in place, hearing Zoey suck in a breath he sighed.

"Don't leave on_ her_ account" Reinette said politely, her eyes narrowing at Zoey.

"I'm not" the Master replied, voice soft

"Looks like it" Zoey taunted, her hands on her hips and eyebrow raised, moving towards the master so that she was inches away from him

"Oh don't start" Rose groaned, she really wasn't ready for a fight "Just talk like adults for once will you please"

"Fine" they both replied, storming from the control room, and into the corridor.

Deathly silence followed as they both stared at each other, neither knowing what exactly to say. Anger surged through Zoey sending her blood boiling and her hearts hammering dangerously fast in her chest, she knew that going to the control room was a bad idea, she just couldn't face it, seeing him sitting next to Reinette, it was enough to send her spiralling into insanity. They continued to stare, the only sounds coming from their heavy breathing, the tension crackling between them as they each challenged each other silently to crack and be the first to speak.

"What do you want from me Zoey?" The Master half shouted, his ego getting a serious beating as he cracked first.

The anger surging through Zoey finally reached boiling point and she shouted back "WHY WOULD I WANT _ANYTHING_ FROM _YOU_?!?!"

The Master simply blinked, he didn't think he had seen her this mad before, and his body's natural reaction in this situation was to retaliate and hit back twice as hard "You tell me Zoey? You tell me? Why is it so wrong bringing Reinette on board? Are you jealous because she is everything you aren't?" as soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them, and the hard slap she delivered on the side of his face was everything he deserved, his cheek burned as he stared at her through apologetic eyes.

"You bastard! Why would I be jealous of _her" _Zoey shouted fighting back the tears that were making her eyes sting, she wasn't going to let him see that this was getting to her, she couldn't, self preservation just wouldn't let her.

"Well she's kissed me" he replied smugly, his brain not daring to register the consequences of that statement.

Zoey narrowed her eyes and mumbled something that was almost inaudible but the Master caught it "I've kissed you twice", he couldn't help the ghost of a smile that appeared on his lips at the memory of those kisses, however short would always be the best he had ever had, nothing had sent his senses afire like Zoey did when she kissed him.

The master was about to launch into the next part of his argument when Mickey stormed past him, his fists clenched and his face contorted into rage, the master raised an eyebrow, no one could pull off angry like _he_ could, the human should just give up before he got ahead. As Mickey cleared the corridor without even acknowledging their presence, the master again turned on Zoey.

"And here's another thing Reinette saved me! I'd be stuck there if it wasn't for her!"

"You ungrateful bastard"

"UNGRATEFUL??"

"Yeah, you heard me, ungrateful, I've saved you more times than I care to remember, but you don't give a shit do you?!?! No, but when St. Reinette saves you, well that's a different story"

"It's not like that at all!"

"Oh really, well enlighten me, what is it like?"

"I"

"See you don't even have an answer do you?" Zoey sighed, her hearts constricting painfully in her chest.

The master hung his head in shame, she was right as always, he really didn't have an answer for her, but he desperately wanted to, he didn't want to fall out with her, that was the one thing he never wanted to do, so mustering up all the courage he had he uttered the words he never though he would hear himself say.

"I'm sorry"

Zoey's eyes widened at his words and she felt the same need to apologise to him too, she could never stay mad at him, no matter what he did "I'm sorry too" she replied trying to force a smile.

The master ginned and held his arms out and beckoned her into a hug, one that she readily agreed to, rushing into his arms and wrapping hers securely around him. He squeezed her tightly, that familiar feeling of contentment washed over him as she hummed into his chest, rubbing her back gently he shut his eyes, savouring the moment.

Zoey inhaled sharply, taking in the scent that was just purely the Master, the faint time lord smell of honey, that musky man smell, aftershave that he didn't need to wear but did anyway because she had told him it smelt nice, her cocoa body wash that he always stole and the Doctors shampoo all of this was a smell that was just uniquely him, she could smell traces of her perfume on his jacket and she grinned into his chest before she pulled away and looked at him softly.

This time when he looked at her the Master truly saw her, her brown hair was messed up and out of place from lying on her bed, her make-up was smudged around her eyes where she had fiercely wiped away tears, her sparkling blue eyes showed him everything he wanted to be, they were bright and enthusiastic if only a little dark and war hardened, he noticed the silver circle that dominated the outer edge of the iris, and he held back a chuckle, Zoey had to be different. All other Time Lords had golden circles around their eyes, his gaze moved to her cheeks which were covered by a light spattering of freckles even though her skin was quite tanned, if she were human people would assume she was or had some Italian heritage. A faint blush tinged her cheeks as he gazed intently at her and he didn't think she had ever looked so beautiful.

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen" he said grabbing her hand and tugging her in the right direction

"Why?" Zoey asked frowning

"Comfort food"

"When do you ever eat comfort food?"

"Never"

"Well then"

"It's for you, I know where the Doctor keeps the really expensive chocolates and I'm going to steal them"

Zoey's echoing laughter could be heard throughout the ship as she and the Master ran full pelt toward the kitchen.

The Doctor silently made his way to the living room, wondering what exactly was coming over the Tardis occupants, everyone seemed to be on edge, snapping at the simplest thing, he understood Mickey snapping at him in the kitchen, that was reasonable, the Doctor and Rose had just moved their relationship to the next level and hadn't told Mickey, Zoey and the Master he vaguely understood but he didn't want to get dragged into whatever it was that was going on between those two, he had long given up trying to fathom them out, all he had worked out was the glaringly obvious, they were both super geniuses even by Time Lord standards, there was some kind of mutual attraction, the Master was from a middle class Time Lord family, though he hated it and to remind him of such roots was in itself a death sentence, Zoey was even further up the social scale being Rassilon's somewhat impossible daughter, as an upper class citizen she was considered the most important Time Lord in existence, and Zoey too disliked her social background, she rarely ever mentioned it, she had been separated from all the other children when she was at the academy, and she graduated well before everyone else her age. Zoey and Reinette, he dared not even try to work out what women fought about and he decided he was best kept out of it, he reached the living room and poked his head around the open door, upon seeing Rose with her arms crossed over her chest a scowl on her face aimed at Reinette, who was sitting looking a mixture of shocked and annoyed. More to add to his list, Rose and Reinette, oh this was going to be perfect.

"Hello" he grinned as he walked into the room, sitting himself down next to Rose, who was incredibly tense, he snaked his arm around her shoulders and his hearts seemed to hum to themselves when she snuggled into him.

"Hello" she said back, giving him that adorable smile that he loved, she moved her body up to him so that she could press a kiss on his lips before snuggling back against him, at that point he really didn't care about the fights on the Tardis, he had Rose, and if he was quite frank, that's all he needed...well maybe not all he needed, the expensive chocolate and the bananas were a god send.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, so I havent updated in a while, apologies, I've had a lot of work to do :) Anddd I'm still reeling from EoT, hence the name change. I totally think that the BBC should make t-shirts like they do for twilight....**

**Anyway I'm getting distracted, so here is the next chapter.**

**I dont own doctor who obviously, if i did Tennant would still be 10 and the Master wouldnt have disappeared/died whatever happened to him.**

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_I don't need a parachute, baby if I've got you, baby I've got you, I don't need a parachute, you're gonna catch me, you're gonna catch if I fall, down, down, down. Parachute-Cheryl Cole_

"Here we are!" the Doctor shouted as the Tardis finally stopped shaking, the Master who was holding onto the Captains chair like his life depended on it gave the Doctor a murderous glare, Rose was sprawled over Zoey on the floor, having both fallen when Rose lost her balance and toppled onto an unsuspecting Zoey, trying to hold back her laughter. Mickey, who had been stuck sitting next to the Master, was flung off of the Captain's chair, not having been fast enough to grab the master for support.

"Really, I didn't notice" Zoey replied as Rose rolled off of her and helped her up from the floor, "Where are we anyway?" she asked, any anger she felt being replaced by bubbling curiosity.

Before the Doctor could answer her, a rather dishevelled Reinette appeared in the control room; she gave the occupants a glare and demanded "What on Earth was that?"

"We've landed" Mickey groaned as he rubbed his shoulder which had taken a beating when he landed on the floor.

"So where are we Doctor?" Zoey asked again, completely blanking Reinettes presence in the room.

"It's a surprise"

"Oh come on, please"

"Nope"

"I'll tell you who stole the chocolates" Zoey tried, before cringing realising that she had also implicated herself, even if the master had took them, she had let him, and subsequently ate them with him.

The Doctor looked torn for a moment, that was a decent bribe, he had been very disappointed when had gone to get some chocolate for Rose only to find that they had all been eaten, and Rose wasn't impressed either when he came back with a banana instead.

"Why don't we just go outside and see for ourselves" The Master said, feigning annoyance so that he wouldn't be killed for stealing the chocolate, he liked this regeneration it could reduce Zoey to an incoherent wreck just by being close to her and that was an improvement, most of his other regenerations had only managed to piss her off.

"Good idea" Rose said as she sprinted to the Tardis doors, she pushed them open and took her first steps outside. She gasped at the sight before her, this planet was beautiful, pink sky stretched for miles and huge snow capped mountains sat majestically in the distance, she could see a small town not a mile away, the wind whipped at her hair and brought with it the smell of the ocean, a peculiar sensation washed over her and she found herself wanting to be as close to the doctor as possible.

Zoey hurried out of the Tardis as quickly as she could, Reinette had grabbed the Masters arm and was making him escort her out of the Tardis, jealousy had ripped at her sides so much that she had run at full speed out of there. Allowing her eyes flick around her surroundings she choked, this was the last place that she wanted to be, this planet was infamous for the hormonal stimulants that floated in the air naturally, and she hoped that they wouldn't affect her, she really couldn't cope with that happening to her now, not with her body reacting to the slightest thing the Master seemed to do. She saw the rest of the Tardis crew exit the ship and she rounded on the Doctor, feeling the stimulants in her bloodstream they upped the effect of the adrenaline that was surging through her.

"Are you insane?" she half shouted "Why did you bring us here?"

"Zoey are you feeling o.k.?"

"No, I'm not! What were you thinking? Delectatio, of all the places" she cried, her hormones raging out of her control

"Zo calm down"

"I can't calm down, I'm scared doctor, I can't control my own body" Zoey panics, her emotions violently changing directions

"Zoey come here" The Master says as he holds his arms open for her, he grins as she barrels into him, and buries her head in the crook of his neck, he wraps his arms around her and rubs her back gently, trying to soothe her, as a young Time Lord she has little or no solid control over the reactions of her body, and knowing Zoey as he does, he knows that she does have a some control, but not enough for this planet. He feels her chest vibrate as she hums in contentment against him and he bites his lip worriedly, that one action was sending shivers of desire down his spine, under normal circumstances he would have been able to shrug it off and at least attempt to look like he was fine, but here on this planet, the feeling was increased by 100x and he was going to lose it. Soon.

"Doctor" he croaked "You need to help me" he manages, trying desperately to fight the building arousal.

"What do you need?"

The master held back a groan as another shiver ran down his spine, "I need you to get Zoey" he gasped, his legs shaking with the effort it was taking to remain standing.

The Doctor immediately understood, he gently tugged Zoey out of the Masters embrace and placed his fingers on her temples, his mind entered hers easily, and he was surprised, if not very worried, her defences were completely down, and he could feel her confusion and frustration at that fact, he could feel his own head clouding and he knew had to act fast, quickly running out of options the Doctor implemented his own mental defences in Zoey's head and as a result he felt himself being forcibly removed from his best friends mind.

"What the hell Doctor?" Zoey groaned, rubbing her temples, her face twisted in a grimace

"Sorry about that, the stimulants here where having a rather powerful affect on you"

Zoey's mouth formed a small ´Oˋ and her skin flushed a faint golden colour, "I didn't realise" she whispered sheepishly

"Not your fault" The Master choked

*Later*

Reinette held The Master's arm as they walked into a large building in the town centre, the Doctor had rushed them there as quickly as possible, because he wanted to put more defences up for Zoey, or something along those lines. And if she was completely honest with herself, she really couldn't care any less about Zoey, she knew that was not the proper way to behave, but Zoey was a threat. Zoey showed interest in the Master, not that either even knew about it, but Reinette wished to be with the Master, at least she wanted to have slept with him before she went back to Paris. Her feelings towards him seemed to have been amplified, what had manifested as a small yearning had turned into full blown want, and she couldn't live with that for very much longer, and besides, she always gets what she wants. Reinette watched with obvious triumph as Zoey cast a longing glance in the Masters direction, giving Zoey sickly sweet smile she held back a grin as the Time Lord in question delivered a scathing glare.

"This place should do" The Doctor said clapping his hands together, giving the hotel they had arrived in the once over, white marble floors gleamed up at them surrounded by burnt red walls that made the room feel instantly warmer, golden struts adorned the ceiling which was covered in intricate patterns. The place was truly beautiful, referring to the hotel as The Place only because he had not bothered to check what it was actually called, but at the moment mental defences took precedence over the name of a hotel. Swaggering over to the check-in desk or at least what he assumed was the check-in desk, he booked three rooms not knowing the extent of his mistake.

"Right we have three rooms" The Doctor announced proudly, missing the looks of horror from his travelling companions.

"Three, you only booked three?" The Master asked quizzically, looking at the doctor as though he had grown another head

"Um, yes"

"So who's sharing with whom?" Rose asked, getting straight to the point always seemed to work the best with a confused doctor.

At this the Doctor grinned, "Well, me and you" he said to Rose, ignoring the wolf whistles from Zoey and the Master who were, let's be honest, worse than children, "Zoey and Reinette, and Mickey and the Master" oblivious to the stunned looks of his fellow Time Lords, and indeed the other humans.

"You mean I have to share with this idiot" The Master gasped incredulously jerking his thumb in Mickey's direction.

"Well uh" the Doctor stammered looking quickly between his companions

"I'm not sharing with him! He'll kill me!" shouted Mickey; casting worried glances at the Master, who snorted and muttered something along the lines of "don't flatter yourself".

"If you think for one minute that I am sharing with Reinette, then you are severely mistaken" Zoey growled, her chest rising and falling quickly, the doctor noticed this and rushed to take Zoey's arm.

"Hey! Get off me Doctor!" she shouted as she squirmed in the Doctor's grasp, trying desperately to free herself.

"Master, a little help please"

Rose looked at the Doctor and Zoey in Panic, never had she seen her friend like this, Zoey's eyes were wild, wilder than she had ever seen them, and it truly scared her. "Doctor what's wrong with her"

"She cant control her body Rose, its this planet, you feel different right?"

"Yeah"

"Well we all do, but Zoey is being affected the most, and it's causing this"

"Will you be able to help her?"

The Doctor nodded at her, offering a soft smile before shouting "Master, HELP PLEASE"

The Master stood still for a moment, contemplating the Doctor's request, if he did go to help then he would also have to put up his own defences, as well as concentrating on giving Zoey the help that she needed, but if he didn't go he would have all the time in the world to construct his own barriers and make them perfect, but that would mean that the Doctor would have to do it on his own, and he really didn't think that that would be enough to help Zoey. The possibility of Zoey suffering made his mind up for him, rushing to Zoey's side he grabbed her other arm, whispering comforting words in her ear as he haphazardly threw up his own defences, the last thing he needed was to give in to basic instinct.

"Master on my count of three, I need you to enter her" The Doctor said offhandedly

Upon hearing this, his emotionally compromised mind threw up an image in encouragement; at this the Master let out a squeak and swallowed hard, giving only a small nod in response.

"1, 2, 3 NOW"

Placing his fingers on her temples he found himself rushing into Zoey's head, turning to his left he saw the Doctor, who was frowning at what was unfolding before him, her mind was in chaos, so much so that they could feel Zoey straining to remain conscious.

"This is worse than I thought" The Doctor mused as he stepped further into her head.

"I thought you put up defences to help her, and I don't see any here, she is completely unprotected"

"They mustn't have been strong enough, that's why I need your help, if anyone can produce unbreakable shielding it's you, and you're the only person that could make Zoey put up her own, you are the sole person that she truly trusts"

"I don't understand, why me, why does she trust me?"

"I couldn't tell you because I'm not the person you should be asking but can you not feel that"

"What?"

"That feeling, like you are the best thing that's ever happened to her, I can feel it and I'm not even you"

In truth the Master could feel it and it was driving him crazy, he had never experienced anything like this, the warmth that he felt just being here inside her head made him consider never leaving. He was about to nod when a third voice sounded through the chaos.

"What's happening to me?" Zoey asked, her image shuddering

"You can't fight the stimulants and they are affecting your brain in such a way that you can no longer control yourself, we are here to help" The Master said, taking on board what the Doctor said about her having complete trust in him

Zoey's image nodded slowly "O.k. is there anything that I can do?"

The master grinned "Yeah, try and block them yourself, try as hard as you can and me and the doctor will do the rest"

"You got it" Zoey smiled "Master"

"Yeah"

"Thank you"

"Don't mention it" and with that The Master threw up the best shielding that he could manage, the atmosphere inside her head soon changed, he could feel her reactions to the doctors shielding and his own, she was pleased and back in control, for now. The Master felt his mind expand as he pulled out of Zoey's head, sighing at the feeling he offered her a smile which she returned.

"So, anyone for food?" Zoey asked grinning wildly

**There you go :) Please review xx **

**Delectatio is Latin for pleasure btw i thinki cant really remember :|**

xxTeam-Masterxx


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, so here is the next chapter, up faster than I thought :) Thanks to those who faved, reviewed and alerted :) you rock you can have a master shaped cookie!!**

_I'm falling even more in love with you, letting go of all I've held onto, I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you. Hanging By a Moment-Lifehouse_

Zoey sat outside in the cold night air, the feeling of the wind whipping around her body was oddly calming, if not a little cold. The Primary sun was finally setting and she planned to observe, grimacing as she remembered her childhood, if she could even call it that, her initial education before she had entered the Prydon academy was to be told repeatedly that she must only observe other planets, other civilisations, she allowed herself a sardonic laugh, where had observation ever gotten her people? She was the only female Time Lord left in existence. Sometimes she just felt so alone, she couldn't really relate to anyone, she just needed to connect, in any way that was possible, just to feel what it was like, one time that's all she needed. Making a resolution to stop feeling sorry for herself, she was about to stand when she heard footsteps approaching in the grass.

Lazily turning her head in the direction of the noise, she saw Reinette walking toward her, a very determined look on her face. Groaning loudly she flopped down onto the grass, staring at the colours the sun was casting on the pink sky, she heard Reinette sit carefully near to her and she held back a laugh, because she had a feeling that it just wouldn't help.

"It's beautiful" Reinette said, breaking the silence between them

"Yeah, it is, not the most beautiful I've seen though" Zoey replied smiling at the night sky

"There are sunsets more beautiful than this?"

Zoey sat up on, looking intently at Reinette "Oh yeah, you just have to look, I've seen some of the best sunsets in Paris" offering a small smile.

"It's so strange being on an alien planet, and travelling with aliens, I can't get my head around it"

"What do you think it's like for the Doctor, the Master and me? Travelling with you, Mickey and Rose? You are aliens to us you know, humans seem to forget that"

"Do you ever get bored of travelling?"

_Ouch _thought Zoey, that struck a nerve, because yes in all honesty she did get bored of travelling, running for your life loses its novelty really quickly, and it was the times when she felt that way that she wanted to be back on Gallifrey, doing her job, a doctor funnily enough, she was highly respected by her people and she had enjoyed her time teaching the Time Tots in the Prydon academy, although in the first few weeks they had been more preoccupied with her family history and the fact that she was in the House of Blyledge (one of the oldest and most senior Houses of the Prydonian chapter) than they had been about Biology and Temporal Physics.

"Sometimes, I suppose, but Time Travel is all I have left, and I wouldn't give it up for the world" Zoey replied surprised that her and Reinette were even getting along.

"I hope that this is not too much of a personal question, but how old are you?"

Zoey's mouth fell open, a little taken aback by the question "Oh, I'm 199, why do you ask?"

"199?"

"That's what I said"

"Is that considered young for Time Lords"

"Yeah" Zoey grinned impishly "I'm still considered an adolescent"

"The Master, how old is he?"

The words flew out of Zoey's mouth before she could stop them "Too old for you"

"I beg your pardon"

"He's over 900"

"In which case he is also too old for you"

Zoey's eyebrows furrowed angrily, casting Reinette a cold stare "And, since when was it your business?"

"Is he single?"

"W-What? Yes he is"

"Good, well it was nice talking to you" Reinette said sweetly as she stood to leave, Zoey quickly rising with her, grabbing her arm threateningly

"What are you planning to do? Jump him, sorry that won't work, he doesn't go for Humans"

"Well maybe I will make him change his mind"

"I don't think so"

"Well we will just have to find out wont we"

"Good luck with that, he doesn't do French whores sorry"

_She saw that slap coming._

"Well I think I will have more luck than you, from what I've found out, you are the last woman of your entire species, the Time Lords will be extinct without you, and the master still doesn't want you"

Zoey had slapped Reinette hard across the face before she even knew what she was doing, "Don't you dare talk about the Time Lords. You aren't even worthy to say their name!"

Reinette stormed back across the grass, presumably heading to the hotel to put the moves on the master, Zoey sighed and sat back down, letting the tears finally fall down her cheeks.

The Master was pacing the room nervously, he hadn't seen Zoey in quite some time, they were supposed to be going to a spa, as much as he loathed the idea, Zoey really wanted to go, and when it came to Zoey he was a pushover.

"Will you please stop pacing, you are really starting to irritate me" Mickey snapped impatiently at the Master, who simply raised an eyebrow and carried on pacing.

"You are going to wear the floor out if you carry on like this" again Mickey's protest fell on deaf ears

"STOP!" Mickey's eyes widened in alarm, he was so dead now.

This time the master did stop and stared at Mickey in disdain, he stomped towards his bed and flung himself onto it, huffing moodily.

"Oh my god, you didn't kill me, ha I'm not dead"

The master gave Mickey a lazy stare and snapped back "Like I told you before Mickey, don't flatter yourself"

"Whoa, what's got a bee in your bonnet?"

"Excuse me, are you implying that I'm a woman, because then I _will _kill you"

"N-no it's a turn of phrase, meaning uh what are you mad about?"

At this the Master burst into manic laughter, clutching his stomach as he did so "Oh your face, that was priceless, I knew what you meant Mickey, I'm not really going to kill you"

"Oh thank god, I really thought, you had me going there"

"I know, I'm just that brilliant"

"So what is up with you?"

"Nothing"

"Oh come off it, there is something up, it's ok to admit it you know"

"Fine, if you insist, it's Zoey"

"What about her?"

"Rassilon you're dense, I love her! Idiot, and I can't tell her!"

"Why not? It's not like she doesn't love you"

"But how can you know that, you haven't even asked her!"

"Neither have you, you know for a Time whatever you are, you can be really thick"

"It's Time _Lord, _and I am not thick, I'm miles smarter than the Doctor"

"Really? You are? What about Zoey, you smarter than her?"

"Nah, Zoey is a super genius, even by Time Lord standards, I'm just a genius"

"Some Genius you are, you don't see the glaringly obvious"

"What's obvious"

"Oh you really can't see it can you? Have you noticed how Zoey is when she is around you, how her eyes light up, and she has a goofy grin plastered all over her face, she blushes undiscovered shades of red when you stare at her, when you compliment her she doesn't know where to look, she loves you idiot"

"She does?"

"Yes, and you bringing Reinette on board nearly killed her"

"So that's why she was acting weird"

"Yes she was jealous, she loves you and you are off with another woman"

"Oh that explains everything, thank you Mickey" The Master stood to run out of the door in search of Zoey, when a thought struck him, there was no way he could leave and let Mickey think he had gone soft. So moving back towards Mickey, he mentioned something about showing him how he felt about her, Mickey, ever the idiot, agreed, so the Master went into his head and very sneakily wiped all trace of it and implanted a very convincing conversation in its place in which he had threatened to kill Mickey, that sounded plausible,feeling very proud of himself, he walked back towards the door, pulling it swiftly open and shouting "Bye Rickey!" at the top of his voice.

The Master walked down the corridor to Zoey's room, knocking on the door eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet, the excitement bubbling, the door opened slowly, he sighed as he saw Reinette staring at him hungrily.

"Hello, can I help you"

The Master stood taken aback, Reinette couldn't have been wearing anything more than a dressing gown and he cursed to every deity that he could think of. "Um, is Zo here, I really need to talk to her"

"No she isn't you are welcome to wait, if you like"

"As long as you don't mind" the master said warily

"Of course not, come in" with that Reinette turned and sauntered back into the room, swaying her hips provocatively, he had a feeling that this would be a long wait.

**

Zoey wandered aimlessly around the hotel gardens, the night had truly descended and flaming torches lit the pathway, the smell of the flowers over powered her senses and she inhaled deeply, she wasn't ready to go back into the hotel just yet, especially for what Reinette was planning for the Master. Sighing deeply, she sat on one of the chairs, staring at the stars, to the empty space where her suns should be, it felt so wrong to only see blackness there now.

"Hey" came the unmistakable voice of the master

Zoey jumped, she hadn't heard him approaching "You almost gave me a heart attack, I only have one you know"

"Strange isn't it? Not seeing the suns"

Zoey simply huffed, talking to him would only get her angry and upset, and she might do something to him that she would regret, like kill him.

"Zoey what's wrong?"

"Delae'Shoun" _Here we go_

The Master's mouth fell open, he hadn't heard his language spoken in such a long time, it sounded beautiful, more so when Zoey said it, mainly because she used the upper dialect, but the way the words rolled off of her tongue made him shiver.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"I'm fine"

"Please Zoey"

"There is nothing wrong with me"

"I'm going to stand here until you tell me"

Zoey stood to face him, her face unreadable "There isn't anything to tell"

"Please Zoey"

Blinking hard at the pleading tone in his voice she felt her control slipping away very quickly, she stared up at him with wide eyes and her control snapped, launching herself forward she pressed her lips soundly against his, grinning as he gasped in surprise she ran her tongue along his bottom lip, and he groaned, kissing her back with as much vigour as he could summon.

They both pulled apart reluctantly, the master a squeaking "What was that for?"

"I needed to see what it felt like"

"Did you find out, or do you need a refresher?"

"You are the king of cheese you know that?"

"Zoey"

"Yeah"

"Shut up"

And with that he crashed their lips together, slipping his tongue into her mouth, he pulled her flush against him, he felt all of his carefully built walls tumbling down and the full effects of the planet took over his body, his skin felt as though it was burning, his brain was assaulted with information as he felt Zoey's tongue push into his mouth with ease. Pushing his hands up her shirt he splayed his fingers over her back, caressing the soft skin. Zoey moaned into his mouth and he found himself dangerously aroused.

"Zo" he panted as he pulled away, kissing down her jaw.

"Mmm"

"Bedroom?"

"Yeah"

"Good" he moved his hands to her thighs and picked her up easily smiling as she giggled before joining their lips again, kissing him softly as he manoeuvred along the path and into the hotel, trying to look civilised as he carried her through the lobby, he walked as fast as he could towards their rooms.

"Shit Zo"

"What?"

"We don't have a room"

"Kick Reinette out"

Laughing loudly the master fumbled with the door to Zoey and Reinettes room, managing after 5 minutes to get the door open, he staggered inside.

"Reinette, get out!" Zoey shouted meekly, as the master continued his trail of kisses down her neck, groaning as he sucked on the sensitive skin, he was so going to get it for that.

Reinette seemed to appear from the bathroom, upon seeing Zoey and the Master; she let out a strangled yelp of surprise and marched past them and out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"I think that went well" Zoey whispered

"Zoey"

"Shut up I know"

The Master grinned and captured her lips with his; wrapping he pulled her closer, pressing her to him as tightly as he could, senses he didn't even know he had came to life as she ran her fingers through his hair and he moaned. Loudly. He could hear the soft rumble of Zoey's chest as she laughed and he took this opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, tasting everything that he could, his hands caressing her sides, and then moving to cup her breast. Zoey gasped, and pushed herself against him as hard as she could, the growing intensity of whatever it was inside of her was finally getting too much for her to bare, lips still locked in a passionate embrace they tumbled onto the bed.

**Ahh well there is that chapter over, I cant write smut so i left it there :| If anyone feels like writing it be my guest just PM me. :P**

**Hope you enjoyed, please review.**

**xxTeam-Masterxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok here you go the next chapter, I will get rid of Reinette next chapter I promise :) Not that she is in this one but she is mentioned so, yeah anyway, on with the story enjoy!**

_There's a little bit of something me, in everything in you. If You're Gone- Matchbox Twenty_

Zoey lay silently in her and the Master's bed, her face was soft as she watched him sleep peacefully, she had never really seen him this peaceful, and they had shared a bed many times before on the Tardis, without the Doctor's knowledge obviously. She shuddered thinking what exactly would happen if the doctor had found out, he would probably tear the Master limb from limb, not that anything ever happened, well until now. The Master would usually be there for comfort, and not that he would ever admit to it, but she had heard him singing ancient Gallifreyan lullabies to her as she drifted off to sleep. Feeling him shift in his sleep she sighed, never had she felt so at peace, that little part of her that always felt out of synch was now firmly in place. A smile gracing her lips she traced a feather light trail down his jaw line, delighting in the feeling of his skin against hers.

"Did you know it's rude to stare?" Zoey jumped at the sound of the muffled voice, before smiling at him, she bit her lip as he shuffled upwards revealing his bare chest, she heard him laugh lightly at her, and she realised that she must be blushing, brilliant. But before she could respond she felt his lips touch hers, and her body felt like it had caught fire, every part of her was burning with such and intensity that she could no longer think straight, the only thing that her mind could focus on was him, and his lips moving against hers.

Breaking apart Zoey furrowed her brow "Whatever happened to good morning?"

The Master's lips twitched upward "Would you rather I said good morning?"

"Nah" Zoey grinned as she pressed their lips together again, revelling in the feeling of electricity shooting up and down her spine.

"You know, I think I could get used to this"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, definitely, I mean another repeat performance of last night and I would be converted to the dark side"

"Just when the universe thought it could breathe a sigh of relief, the Master rejoins the dark side"

"Hey!" The Master shouted indignantly and whacked her with a pillow.

Zoey blinked a few times in shock "So that's what it's like" she grumbled as she reached for the pillow, before being cut off by repeated blows with the Master's new weapon, giggling she picked up hers and hit him as hard as she could.

"Oh it is on" The Master grinned as they descended into a full blown pillow fight

**

Rose felt much more comfortable know that they were back on the Tardis, everyone seemed relatively normal, or as normal as they could get, Mickey was in an odd mood but he would snap out of it soon, and Zoey and the Master were closer, grinning to herself as she watched them whispering to each other, something the Master said caused Zoey go a violent shade of red and Rose stifled a laugh.

"Right off we go!" The Doctor announced from the control panel, dramatically pressing buttons and pulling levers, before sprinting around the console to repeat the process. However this time he abruptly stopped and looked suspiciously at Zoey and the Master.

"Why don't you two ever help me fly the Tardis?" he asks

"I do help you fly the Tardis...sometimes" Zoey says to the Doctor, a grin threatening to make its presence known on her face

"I always have something better to do" The Master says flippantly, leaning back on the captain's chair.

"If you helped the landings would be smoother" the Doctor offered, hoping that Rose would get involved and persuade them otherwise, like she always managed to do, but she remained silent. "Rose, you would like it if the landings were smoother wouldn't you?" he asked breaking out the puppy dog eyes.

"Nuh uh Doctor, this is between you and them not me" Rose grinned

"Come on Rose please"

"No, this is your fight not mine"

"Pretty please with me on top"

"No"

"Well don't expect any chocolate off me then" the doctor pouted, looking at her expectantly

"Fair enough, besides I know where you keep it"

"It was you!"

"What was me?"

"You stole the expensive chocolate that I got for free off that old woman but that doesn't matter because they would have been expensive if I had bought them myself even though I have no money anyway so technically it's stealing but that's not the point it was you!" he rambled, not once pausing for breath.

"What was me? But this time slower"

"You stole the expensive chocolate!"

"I did not!"

"You did, you said that you knew where I kept it!"

"So does everyone on the Tardis, it isn't that hard to find"

At the sudden turn in argument, Zoey and the Master quickly got up from their seat and started to walk out of the control room.

"You two!" the doctor shouted

Stopping in their tracks and turning slowly to see a rather insane doctor they grinned "Yes"

"It was you two!"

"We...wouldn't" they stammered giggling

"You did"

"Oh dear, I think we better..."

"Get here right now"

"RUN"

With that all three time lords ran out of the control room leaving a very bemused Rose standing staring at the now empty space, "Some things just never change" she laughed as she walked calmly out of the room and toward the kitchen, in desperate need of the Doctor's chocolate, a sly grin spreading across her face as she did so.

**

Zoey skidded to a halt down one of the numerous Tardis corridors, listening anxiously for sounds of the Doctor's heavy footsteps, she took in a gulp of air as she listened, calming her screaming lungs, this was why she hated being in her first body, she only had one heart, her respiratory bypass system was well lets face it, about as good as chocolate fireguard, oh and she wasn't supposed to regenerate until she was at least 500, groaning at the fact that she would be stuck like this for another 301 years, she strained her ears again, she couldn't really hear anything and she sighed in relief, that was until the Master came barrelling around the corner and straight into her, the sudden hit made her loose her balance and she toppled over, taking the Master with her.

"Ow" she moaned as she tried to rub her head, which had made a rather violent contact with the floor.

"You ok?" the Master asked from his position on top of her, moving his hand to cup her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb before planting a kiss on her forehead

Zoey raised an eyebrow, "No, I'm not ok, you just made me whack my head off of the floor and it hurts" she pouted at him.

"Aww poor you"

Zoey frowned, pulling her hand away from the back of her head, quickly checking her palm to make sure there was no blood, which thankfully there wasn't, "Don't patronise me"

The master chuckled "Sorry, I'll make it up to you", the glint that appeared in Zoey's eyes and the dirty smile that had spread across her face told him everything.

"Ok you have a deal" she smirked as she grabbed him by his tie and pulled him in for a kiss

The Doctor ran as fast as he could through the corridors, the Tardis must have been shifting them because he was positive that he had been down this one several times, _Traitor _he growled mentally at the Tardis, who merely hummed in response, taking a quick left turn he was sure that he had caught the old girl out as she desperately tried to shift the corridors but failed, as he turned again he nearly had a heart attack, there on the floor were Zoey and the Master, kissing, and it was no ˋHa Ha look at us we just outran the Doctor because his ship is a traitor´ kiss, this was the real deal, and something inside him snapped. He had no idea what it was but he couldn't control the rage that was seeping through his body.

"What is going on here?!" He shouted, causing the two to stop abruptly and upon seeing the doctor scramble to their feet

"What does it look like doctor? Limbo dancing?" the Master asked clicking his tongue arrogantly

"She's only 199!"

"Well, that is relative if you think about it"

The doctor stared at Zoey questioningly, anger burning in his eyes as he stared at them, his clenched fists shaking.

"Yeah, I've been travelling most of my life and since there is no real linear time in the Tardis I could be older than that"

"Then lets see shall we" The doctor growled as he quickly scanned her with the sonic screwdriver "Nope you're 199"

"Dang" Zoey mumbled as she shifted closer to the Master

"What does it matter anyway Doctor?" The Master asked, grabbing Zoey's hand in reassurance

"It's illegal!"

"Oh yeah, says who?"

"Time Lord law!"

"Since when did you ever care about the law?" The Master questioned eyebrow raised in utter defiance

Ah, he was stumped there, he had never really cared about the law of his people at any point in his life, and the Master knew, the amount of times they had skipped classes together as children.

"Zoey is just a child! She is my responsibility; she's like a daughter to me!"

Zoey's eyes widened in shock, he really thought that? She had never had a father figure in her life, not even when she was a baby; she had always been surrounded by women in her early childhood as all the best pre-academy lecturers were women. There had never been the male influence that she craved, someone to show her the ways of the world, no one to warn off unsuitable males who had knocked on her door, that had been left to the rather scary house keeper, thanks to her Zoey could never look at a sweeping brush in quite the same way ever again. After the Time War, when the three remaining survivors helped to put the war into a Time Lock, before the doctor regenerated from his injuries Zoey had latched onto him as a source of protection, at that time she had still been wary of the Master, and the Doctor was the one she counted on to get her through the pain of the first few months, she had only been 100 at the time, barely out of childhood, just verging on the tip of adolescence. She had travelled with him and the Master ever since, seeing the Doctor increasingly as a mentor and the father that she never had, whereas her feelings for the Master had changed from hatred, to annoyance, to respect, to friendship and eventually to love.

"Do you mean that?" she asked shakily, her voice wavering as tears welled up in her eyes

"Of course I do Zoey, I don't have children anymore, but I'd be more than proud to have you as my daughter"

With that Zoey rushed toward him and engulfed him in a tight hug, which he reciprocated eagerly, holding her tightly against him, feeling the quicker pace of her single heart the doctor smiled, so this was what it felt like to have family, he had long since forgotten how wonderful it could be.

"You know" she whispered into his shoulder "I've seen you as my dad for a long time, and I'd be proud to be your daughter, I really would, but you have to accept that me and the Master, we aren't gonna just stop this, I love him I honestly do and I need you to be ok with that because I can't live knowing that you're disappointed in me"

The doctor felt the tears running down his cheeks as she spoke to him, he had a daughter again, well as good as. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat he whispered back "If you love him, then I can't stop you, I'd never be disappointed in you Zoey, you've done so much in such a short life, you witnessed the destruction of your own planet, you deserve all the happiness that you get, you have my approval, just warn me in future yeah"

"Yeah" Zoey said as she let him go wiping tears from her eyes "Thank you...Dad" she smiled and rushed back to the Master grabbing him by the lapels and kissing him hard.

The doctor stood dumbfounded, fresh tears welling in his eyes, the rush of love and pride as she called him dad had been over whelming, he swallowed thickly before looking at Zoey, his new daughter and his mouth dropped open. "Zoey, warning!"

Zoey pulled away and turned, blushing violently "Sorry, close your eyes now or walk away" she grinned as the Master pulled her in for another kiss.

Chuckling the Doctor turned and wandered aimlessly through the corridors, whistling a tune he couldn't remember the name of, he grinned to himself, everyone was happy, well almost everyone, he still had to deal with Reinette and Mickey, maybe if he locked them in a room...he winced ending that train of thought very abruptly, some things just weren't meant to be and that was one of them, and he could really do without the extra stress that would come with it, especially since Reinette was a lot more, what was the word, loose when it came to sexual relationships, the amount of grey hairs that would give him made him shudder, as vain as that was, he liked this body, and he intended to take care of it, so grey hair was not an option. He grinned wildly as he entered his room and flopped onto his bed, things were finally starting to look up.

**Ahh there another chapter finished :P Somehow I just can't think of a way to get Zoey and the Master to say "I love you" I kept trying to write it in but it just didn't fit the chapter, I could only really get Zoey to admit it to the doctor. It's probably going to be a near death situation that's going to do it *sigh* oh well, if anyone has ideas for the next chapter let me know because I'm stuck, visiting Jackie crossed my mind, then Zoey and the Master would definitely admit their feelings, Jackie is near death enough for them, well for the Doctor and the Master anyway.**

**Enough of my rambling, please Review**

**Pretty please with the Doctor on top (lol) XD**

**xxTeam-Masterxx**


	8. Chapter 8

_You only get one shot, so make it count, you might never get this moment again, the clock is ticking down its the final round, so tell me what it is that's stopping you now. One Shot-JLS_

Today was just one of those days, you know the ones where you just wake up and think _oh shit I really wish it was tomorrow,_ it was one of those, and as far as Zoey was concerned it really wasn't going to get any better in the foreseeable future, as if the episode they had when they dropped Reinette off wasn't bad enough. Throwing a shoe at her had been petty to say the least, and it wasn't like she deserved it, second thoughts maybe she did, but still a shoe? There was something else she couldn't look at in the same way. Anyway she was getting off track here, the day then took a turn for the worse, landing in the Powell estates has never been one of her favourite past times but, Rose insists on seeing Jackie and Zoey is far too afraid and intelligent to stop her, an angry Jackie Tyler is a force to be reckoned with. The Powell estates were only just the beginning, it had started to slip further downhill when Jackie had hugged her, Zoey may be less concerned with domestics but that was just weird, Jackie had never hugged her before, ever, Jackie had only ever shouted at her for being a bad influence on Rose, which she wasn't, if anyone was a bad influence it was the Master. But as the day moved on it made its way down the slippery slope and on its way to becoming the worst day she had ever had, they had to stop a set of aliens that looked too much like Gremlins from taking over the world and with a leader called Gizmo, well it was just destined for disaster. Trudging back into Jackie's flat covered in god only knows what they had been promptly thrown out and hosed down...hosed down she had never been so embarrassed in her life, oh yeah and the cherry on the cake of the worst day in history (with one obvious exception), Jack's back, let the fun begin.

*Earlier that day*

"Never again will I laugh when Gizmo tries to take over the world" Zoey moaned as she walked back towards Jackie's flat

"Gizmo was supposed to be the nice one" Rose added flicking as much goo from her hands as possible

"Gizmo wasn't even a Gremlin" Mickey added smugly, only to be rewarded with frowns from Rose and Zoey.

"We know that, but they were very Gremlin-esque creatures, and I'm not sure whether they appreciated it"

"No I don't think they did"

"I mean some of the language they came out with, you are so pleased the Tardis wouldn't translate for you"

...

"We stink" Zoey and Rose complained as they passed some of the Powell estates inhabitants, who gave them a look of disgust and wrinkled their noses.

"Put it this way at least we stopped them" The Doctor said brightly

Zoey merely glared "Whose bright idea was it to blow them up? Oh yeah I remember now, Rickey pressed the wrong button"

"Don't go blaming me it's not my fault!"

"Who else am I going to blame, a _5 year old human _could have pressed the green button"

"But the red button is usually the dangerous button"

"Yeah, when you are dealing with Humans! The rest of the Universe thinks its camp!"

"My favourite colour is red!"

"That explains so much"

"Hey!"

Reaching the floor they wanted, Rose, Zoey, Mickey and The Doctor made their way over to Jackie's, bickering as they went, pushing the door open they each fought their way into the flat, to be met with the Master gawping at them, a pink apron covering his front and flour in his hair.

"Rassilon what happened to you four?" he asked as he held back his laughter

"The Idiot made Gizmo explode" Zoey muttered

"No don't you start on me again"

"Fine...What in the name of Gallifrey, are you wearing?" Zoey asked, her mouth hanging open in shock as she finally saw the pink apron.

"What does it look like?"

"You look..."

"Handsome, irresistible" The Master offered

"Ridiculous"

"You needened talk! Have you seen what you are covered in?"

Zoey opened her mouth to argue back when Jackie walked back into the flat, carrying a multitude of bags, all of which were full to bursting point, barely noticing the trail of slime that was on the floor she pushed her way inside dropping the bags onto the couch as she did so.

"Harry I really need a cuppa, I'm bloody parched, and you better not have burnt that cake" she said to the master who scowled at her for using his human guise...again.

"Jackie how many times do I have to tell you it's the Master not Harry"

"I don't care, I am not calling you the Master it sounds stupid"

Mumbling something under his breath, he turned on his heal and proceeded to make tea for the most irritating person he had ever met, sulkily reaching for a cup a pout firmly set on his face, he began to make tea when he heard an almighty shriek. Jackie had seen them then.

"What in the blazes are you covered in?!"

"Mum you really don't wanna know" Rose said shooting Mickey an annoyed glare

"Get out the lot of you!"

"What?" they chorused

"Get out! Look at the mess you've made!"

Realising that it was better just to do what Jackie said rather than risking a slap, the four turned and walked out, leaning on the pillar opposite, they stared in disbelief as Jackie brought out a hose and connected it to the tap outside.

"Oh no Jackie please" Zoey moaned before she was soaked with ice cold water, screaming at the shock, and her face glowing red with embarrassment she was hosed down in front of the Powell estates. "I'm so lucky I'm wearing a jacket, this t-shirt goes really see through"

"Speak for yourself" Rose muttered as the white shirt she was wearing advertised to the estate exactly what her bra looked like

A wolf whistle was heard not seconds later, and the Doctor and Zoey both wrinkled their noses in disgust, turning to their right they see none other than Jack Harkness, looking slightly out of breath and swaggering smugly towards them, WW2 great coat still draped over his shoulders. Rose squeals and runs towards him, throwing her arms around him in a rather wet hug, rambling about thinking he was dead, at this the Doctor and Zoey's eyes darkened and they looked at each other thoughtfully.

"Doctor" Jack said curtly, a slight scowl gracing his features

"Captain" The Doctor replied awkwardly, tugging his ear nervously

"Zoey"

"Jack" Zoey managed, the conversation was very strained, and she supposed that she understood, they had left him on that satellite after all, but she understood why, every time lord sense was screaming in alarm at the sight of him, fixed points were always a bit of funny thing, but when they wandered around through time itself, then it was just wrong. She felt the water stop, and Jackie was smirking in satisfaction, leaving the hose to dry in the heat she walked back inside as the Master came running out thankfully free of the pink apron and most of the flour.

"I know that you four stink, but I never imagined that it was this bad..." The Master started, the sly smile quickly fading from his face as he caught sight of the man he hated the most in the whole universe. Ever.

"Master"

"Harkness" the Master spat, grimacing at the feeling running through his body

"Mickey Mouse"

"Jack Flash"

"Well now that the introductions are over how about we all go inside huh, where we can't throw each other off of balconies" Zoey chirped as she grabbed the Master's arm and pulled him inside.

"I wasn't going to do it" he moaned at her, pouting for added effect

*Later*

The Master sat comfortably on Jackie's couch his arm slung around Zoey who was curled up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder, while he glared purposefully at Jack, who to give him his due, glared right back, and he hadn't stopped since they had sat down. What the master couldn't decide was whether the glare was because Jack genuinely didn't like him, because he was sitting with Zoey or a combination of the two. Guessing that it was the latter, he grinned evilly and placed a soft kiss on Zoey's forehead, hearing Jack growl made the Master produce a self satisfied smirk and give Jack a look that clearly said "Oh yeah, you so want to be in my place right now...well tough shit"

"So we are still in the middle of a staring contest then?" The Doctor asked as he walked into the living room, carrying a bag full of chips, which smelt too good, far too good.

"No" Jack and the Master shouted together, only to give each other another death glare

"Double negative, it's a yes" Rose said as she brought plates into the living room and arranged them onto the small mahogany coffee table that sat in the middle of the room.

"Shouldn't we wake Zoey?" Jack asked, nodding at the sleeping Time Lord

"Nah, you snooze you lose" The Doctor grinned

"You did not just say that" Rose moaned as she stole one of his chips on the sly.

"No leave her, let her wake up on her own, our esteemed leader needs her sleep, besides she's knackered" the Master said, running his hand through his hair absentmindedly

"Leader?" Jack asked staring quizzically at the Time Lord's

"It's complicated" the doctor replied almost instantly, his eyes dark

At that Jack dropped it, when the Doctor looked like that it generally meant that you were better off not knowing, so it was going to stay that way. They ate their dinner in relative silence, brief bursts of small talk interrupted the awkward silence, but very rarely, there was no interruption from Jackie either, which the master and the Doctor were pleased about, she had gone to see a friend a few doors down and had said she may be there all night as her flat had been invaded by aliens, and the more the Master thought about it, invaded might be too strong a word, maybe something like acquiesced or borrowed, yeah he liked borrowed, her house had been borrowed by three aliens her daughter and a freak, but if he had his way the freak would be gone very soon, his evil scheming was forgotten very quickly when Zoey snuggled further into his side, mumbling something inaudible, he strained his ears to try and catch it, but to no avail. He sighed contentedly and rubbed her upper arm with his hand, pulling her closer to him as he did so. She mumbled again as she pried her eyes open, taking in the room around her with bleary eyed confusion, her hand gripped the Master's jacket as she pulled herself up, sniffing the air cautiously the unmistakable smell of chips wafted toward her, all of a sudden the world became clearer and she scowled purposefully at the Doctor.

"Thanks for waking me up" she said her voice dripping with sarcasm

"No Problem" the doctor replied, grinning madly at her

Zoey couldn't really keep the scowl going after that, the chips were far more important, reaching for her plate, she stood and headed for the kitchen, and the microwave, cold chips weren't all that appealing. She heard the Master's footsteps behind her, her overactive brain calculating pressure exertion on the floor consistent with the Master's weight, groaning to herself for even thinking about any form of physics, she stuffed the plate in the microwave and set it away, turning sharply to face the Master. The strangled yelp told her that he was surprised that she knew he was there.

"Hey"

"Hey yourself"

There was a small smile and the room fell into awkward silence that seemed to haunt them today, Zoey opened her mouth to say something but thought against it and pursed her lips together.

"Look what is this?" Zoey asked, not being able to take the tension that had grown between them anymore

"What is what?"

"This! Me and You!"

"Oh" was the simple response to that question, the Master began to panic, this was the last conversation he wanted, it would mean he had to talk about how he felt, and he was not the type of person who did that, not at all, not even to save his own skin "Why do you need to know?"

"Because I don't want to be strung along, and uhhh"

"And what?"

"Icanonlyhaveonematebecausei'"

"Sorry, I'm good but not that good, I don't speak gibberish, so if you don't mind"

"I can only have one mate, because I'm the Lord President and that's the way it is"

"Ah I see"

"Do you though?"

"Who do you choose?" the Master asked visibly slumping

"Isn't it obvious, you I choose you, I-"

"You..."

"I love you"

At this the master grins and lunges forward, his lips pressing hers with a bruising force, this kiss was nothing like the others, it's needy and desperate, hair is pulled, skin is scratched, teeth clash and tongues duel in a battle for dominance. It's terrifying and exciting all at once, desire rages as they both gasp, their minds binding together in such an ancient and permanent way that neither can truly think straight, as they see the world through the other's eyes as well as their own, memories whiz by at blinding speeds, burying themselves deep within the recesses of their new homes, thoughts, feelings everything is shared leaving them feeling vulnerable, naked, their very selves resting in the hands of the other, and it hurts, it really hurts seeing things that were long forgotten, but there is pleasure too, as shared memories become amplified and tangled so they are not sure who's memory it really is, their first kiss, is far better than either thought. And then there is the competition, how could there not be? Whose senses are better, and the vague essence that Zoey knows is actually her accepts defeat in most areas after all she is in her first body and really it's not all that good, except for her Time sense, her Paradox sense and reading bio data, she was very good at that. But she found her other senses were heightened if only marginally by the Master's which were she loathed to admit, rather brilliant. She felt the Master thank her, then compliment the senses she had that were better than his, and then thank her for allowing him to steal some of her physics knowledge. In mock anger she hid it all, and found she was very adept at doing so. Only through the bond they shared did they hear a very loud cough, breaking apart, not having realised they were still kissing they stared angrily at the perpetrator, a certain Captain the Master observed smugly, earning himself a Tardis like mental zap from Zoey, grinning sheepishly he asked "Yes?"

"Chips are done" Jack said pointedly, nodding towards the smoking microwave.

"Oh shit!" Zoey gasped as she scrambled for the microwave, wrenching the door open and allowing the smoke to billow out in thick plumes, almost to mock her, the smoke alarm started to beep, causing Rose to run in and demand to know why they were trying to burn down the flat.

Lying comfortably on Rose's bed, slightly red faced after Rose had shouted "No funny business" at them as they entered the room, Zoey and the Master lay curled together, experimenting with the new bond that they shared, which was rather fun when you are dirty minded, or just plain mean, watching the other squirm was good fun. Looking at Zoey seriously, the Master took her hand and kissed it gently.

"I love you" he whispered, almost not daring to say it, even if she could tell through this bond, it wasn't the same as telling her to her face.

"I love you too" she smiled

"Marry me" The Master said staring her straight in the eyes

"W-What you serious?"

"Deadly"

"Marry you?"

"Yeah, Marry me"

"But this thing we have, it's only been official for what 3 hours?"

"Not really, if you think about it, the last 100 years give or take has been a relationship, we just never admitted it"

"Well you're right there"

"Of course I am, so what do you say? Marry me"

"Yes"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

The master grinned and pressed a long kiss to her forehead, "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did"

"..."

"Sorry I'm being facetious, yes go ahead"

"Thank you, I just wanted to know, can I be the chancellor?"

Zoey's eyebrows shot up in surprise "What's the magic word?"

"How old do you think I am?"

"Magic word"

"Please"

"No"

"What! Why?"

"Because I said so, and there isn't a government anyway so technically I'm not the Lord President"

"Oh you are"

"Huh"

"You are, I can feel the power radiating off of you, your senses are telling me you are 100% the Lord President"

Zoey blushed "Fine you can be my chancellor"

"Yes"

"You're not just using me for my presidential powers are you" Zoey grinned, pushing him gently

"Nah"

Zoey let out a short burst of manic laughter "I just realised something"

"What"

"I'm you're Master" Grinning impishly at him her tongue poking between her teeth

The Master's face deadpanned and her searched her face for any sign that she was joking, no she wasn't, damn.

"Don't look so hard done too"

"But I'm the Master" he pouted

"You're still my Master in every other way if that makes you feel better"

Smirking he asked "Every way?"

Zoey blushed and nodded, as he kissed her hungrily, on top of her within seconds

"Look at that, I win"

"Yes Master" Zoey gasped breathlessly "You win"


	9. Chapter 9

_Lordy, Lordy, Lordy!  
I can't help it i like to party, it's genetic!  
It's electrifying, wind me up and watch me go  
Where she stops, nobody knows  
A good excuse to be a bad influence on you and you. Bad Influence-Pink_

The Master stood in his boxers outside Jackie's flat, gazing at the London skyline, the bitterly cold breeze whipped at his exposed skin but he shrugged it off, he had experienced colder breezes than this in his time. The night had fallen fast, and he could only just see through the darkness, the lights of the city centre illuminating the sky a little, he heard the door open and close behind him, and he had to resist the urge to throw himself off of the balcony.

"Can't sleep?" Jack asked politely, a trace of contempt in his voice as he stood beside the Master on the balcony, letting out a long breath that condensed in the night air, swirling upwards towards the cloud filled night sky.

"I don't need to sleep" the Master snapped, his fists clenching of their own accord.

"Sorry for asking"

"You will be" the Master hissed before feeling a hot hand on his shoulder forcibly spinning him around to face an angry looking Jack. Shrugging the arm off of his shoulder, the Master glared venomously, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What is your problem?"

"My problem?"

"You've hated me from the minute we met"

"Let's not be too optimistic Harkness, it was from the millisecond we met"

Jack frowned, and let out another breath, trying to calm himself down; the Master just seemed to push all of his buttons. The use of his last name rather than his first was one of the most irritating he had to say, all Jack wanted to do was wipe that smug smile right off of the masters face, but he was trying to reason with himself.

"So, come on why do you hate me so much?"

The Master snorted "You want me to tell you, fine, I'll cut the list down a bit so you hear the most important reasons, you are a smug, egotistical, narcissistic, pain in the arse, impossible freak with a superiority complex, you shag _anything _whether or not it breathes, and you flirt with Zoey"

"You do realised you have just described yourself don't you?"

"What! I don't shag anything that moves!"

"Well apart from that, you just summed yourself up"

Frowning deeply the Master hit Jack with all the strength that he could muster, satisfied when he fell to the floor with a thump, blood trickling from his nose and lip, "I've wanted to do that for so long" he sighed, not noticing Jack stand, and unable to defend himself when the freak returned the gesture, scrambling up from the floor, swiping the back of his hand across his face, wiping the blood from his nose, the Master glared at Jack before looking back at the London skyline.

"Feel better?" Jack asked smirking

"Oh yeah, you?"

"Definitely"

The Master chuckled and patted Jack on the back as he watched a small collection of stars appear in the night sky, he absent mindedly searched for the stars of his home system, but he sobered when he realised that he would never see them again, there was just thick darkness in the position they should have held in the night sky. He sighed heavily, he had never felt homesick in his life, only now, when there was no possible way of getting back did he miss his planet, that irritating human phrase whirled in his head for a few moments before disappearing.

"You miss it huh?" Jack asked staring at the Masters expressionless face

"Yeah, more than I thought I would" the Master admitted

"It happens to the best of us"

"You miss yours too?"

"Every day"

"At least you could go back"

"Would you go back? If you could"

"Nah"

"But..."

"There are too many bad memories Jack, besides, if I went back, Zo would hate me, the younger Zo that is"

"You never always got on"

"Rassilon no, she despised me"

"Why?"

"Well, she was the Lord President and I was Gallifrey's most wanted for a start"

"Ah, kinda put her off"

"Yeah you could say that"

"What changed?"

"Me mostly, after she..."

"She what?"

"She saved me; in the war" the Master chuckled before continuing "She was adamant that it was because the planet needed me alive, now I'm not so sure if that really was the reason"

"You think she knew that you would end up together?"

"I wouldn't go that far, I'd say she had a feeling, it was one of many possible futures, she chose the best one by saving me, I think, I hope"

"If I know Zoey, it would have been the best of them"

"I like to think so"

Jack let out a short burst of laughter, reminding the Master very much of Zoey "What?"

"We have been talking for 10 minutes and not tried to kill each other"

"We broke a record"

"Indeed we have"

"Don't think that this means I like you because I don't!" The Master warned him, jabbing Jack with his finger

Jack held his hands up in mock surrender "I wouldn't dream of it"

"Good, see you in the morning Jack" grinned the Master as he turned towards Jackie's flat

"Night Master...nice ass by the way"

The Master let out a suffering sigh as he opened the door and walked in, blindly searching for the door to Rose's room, he stepped in quietly closing the door softly behind him, smiling broadly, only for his smile to falter as he saw Zoey sleeping again, this meant that she had slept three nights running and he was growing increasingly concerned, normally Time Lords didn't need sleep, at least not in the quantity that Humans did. Excessive sleep could mean something really bad, he made a mental note to ask the doctor later, no use troubling him when he was in bed, with Rose, he didn't need that mental image. Shuddering, he climbed into bed next to his fiancée, grinning to himself he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, pressing a long kiss to the back of her neck, feeling desire shoot through his spine at twice the intensity he usually felt, he smiled softly, this bond thing might not be as bad as he had first thought.

**

"Mornin' everyone" Mickey shouted as he walked into Jackie's flat, dumping the bags he had spent most of the night packing in the hallway, wandering into the living room where most of the noise could be heard, Mickey saw everyone crowded onto the limited space on the sofa's, the sight made him snort with laughter. Jack, the Doctor and the Master were sat next to each other on the three seater, with Zoey on the Master's lap, her legs sprawled across the Doctor and Jack, she was squealing as Jack kept running a finger along her bare foot, kicking blindly at him to try and make him stop, which only resulted in her kneeing the Doctor in the face, causing Jackie and Rose who were sat on the smaller two seater to burst out laughing, Zoey to blush and apologise profusely before aiming a hard kick at Jack.

"S'like a zoo in 'ere" Mickey said as he sat himself down on the arm of the smaller of the two sofas. "What happened to you two?" he asked, his gaze directed at Jack and the Master who simply grinned.

"We hab a little disagreement" Jack said wincing as the Master looked very smug despite what looked like a broken nose.

"And during which you broke each other's nose"

"Sounds about right" Zoey sighed "And the Doctor says _I'm _immature"

"You are" the Doctor cried indignantly

"You lot are as bad as each other, how old are you?" Jackie says shaking her head at the three Time whatsits, who for all they claimed to be superior, acted worse than human children

"902" The Doctor answered smugly

"Same as hib" The Master said, pain flashing across his features as he spoke

"Wait I'm...3, 2, 1, 200" Zoey grinned

"You never said it was your birthday!" Rose exclaimed, quickly getting up off of the couch and grabbing Zoey, who to give her her due, clung to the Master for as long as was possible before being dragged away. The resulting argument could be heard in the hallway, even over all the noise of the other occupants.

"_Rose, I'm a Time Lord we don't do birthdays!"_

"_Well you are on earth and while you're on earth you respect human culture and it's your birthday!"_

"_Not all humans celebrate birthdays, some religions don't permit the celebration"_

"_Name one"_

"_Uhh"_

"_Exactly"_

"_Jehovah's Witnesses"_

"_Look, I do celebrate birthdays so we are doing this my way, you aren't even a Jehovah's Witness"_

"_I don't care don't make me do it"_

"_Don't be such a drama queen"_

"_I'm not...what are we doing anyway?"_

"_Shopping"_

"_...Oh o.k. then" _

The Master chuckled shaking his head warmly before groaning as his nose reminded him it wasn't quite healed yet, Zoey was a sucker for shopping, well shopping and him, his mind added smugly. Though having two women who were both equally shopping mad was a bit of a problem on the Tardis, especially since him and the Doctor got dragged around so many, and were forced carry bags, that was just embarrassing. With a sharp and very painful crack, he felt his nose snap back into its rightful place, the pain made him yelp in surprise, and tears spring to his eyes, which he furiously hid with his hands.

"Did...Did your nose just fix itself" Mickey asked dumbfounded

"Ahhh yeah" the Master groaned rubbing his sore nose

"You never get used to that" The Doctor commented dryly

"You're telling me, Rassilon that hurts"

"Want something for the pain?" Jackie asked, hands by her sides ready to push herself up to get painkillers from the medicine cupboard

The Master's face deadpans "No" he groans "I'm not human"

"Oh here we go mocking humans because you don't want to look weak, you are so predictable Harry"

Glaring icily at Jackie, the Master crossed his arms over his chest huffily, sinking into the chair "Don't call me Harry" he mumbled

"Like I told you, I refuse to call you the Master because it sounds stupid"

"Happy times" Jack says sarcastically

"Aren't they just" The Doctor grins patting the Master's shoulder, who merely huffs and sinks further into the chair.

**Argh that was hard to write! Screw canon, this whole story defies canon! O.k. anyway so have a little writers block atm, I have a definite idea where I want this to go, however I don't want to write through all the episodes, so I'm debating doing the bits in between the episodes and just writing up the episodes that I think are important like Doomsday, Utopia, SoD, LotTL etc. **

**Let me know because I really cba to write all the episodes out *hint hint* **

**AAAAnnnnyywayy enough of my ranting, please review and a huge thanks to everyone who has faved/alerted/reviewed much appreciate it!**

**xxTeam-Masterxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok here you go, kind of filleryish I guess, I have a definite idea of where I want this to go now, so I'll be doing fillers and the important episodes because I'm lazy and that's easier **** Anyways enjoy!**

"_SILENCE!" Mae screamed at the top of her voice to all the Time Lords that had convened in the Panopticon, the overwhelming noise in the room gradually dwindled down, only the sounds of heavy breathing could be heard as all eyes fixed on the exceedingly young Lord President._

"_Thank you, now can someone please explain to me what exactly has happened" she asked, trying desperately to stop her voice wavering._

"_My Lord President Mae, the Daleks have destroyed without just cause a Gallifreyan survey vessel at Palamaro" Chancellor Drakis said looking expectantly at her._

"_I see, and there was no provocation?"_

"_None at all, word has been received that the Daleks have an army massing outside the Kasterborous system" Cardinal Alexa added, as she glanced at the Chancellery Guard for confirmation._

"_An Army?"_

"_Yes Lord President"_

"_Have they declared war?"_

"_Yes"_

_Suddenly the noise started, and the council decended into total chaos once again, leaving a very agitated Lord President. Strolling to the centre of the room, she stood absolutely still, arms folded across her chest as the room finally fell silent._

"_Then we have no choice, we are at war, I want the new battle Tardis' in operation within the next hour do you understand me? Alert the whole planet, every able bodied man and woman is to fight, children are to be taken to their respective academies, under 8's as well. Call back every person off world, including the Doctor, and I want the Master resurrected"_

"_Lord President! The Master is a psychotic sociopath!"_

"_Exactly"_

_**_

"_Lord Doctor, I wish we could meet again in better circumstances" Mae said as she guided the Doctor into the Citadel _

"_I as well Lord President" The Doctor answered, walking briskly beside her trying to keep up with her surprising pace, "With all due respect Ma'am but are you not a little young for this position especially during the present climate"_

"_Evidently not" she replied forcing a smile at the Doctor "But sometimes I do wonder" _

"_If it helps, I've heard nothing but praise about you, some say that you are the greatest Lord President since your father himself, although I am still concerned about your age"_

_Mae's eyes darkened at the mention of her father, "Thank you Lord Doctor, that means a lot, please could you enter the Panopticon the Chancellor will alert you of your task, there is something that I need to do" and with that Mae marched along the corridor towards a room that held a decision that she might later come to regret. _

_**_

_The Master sat defiantly in the room, his body shivering violently to regain heat, why couldn't they just leave him alone, not that he wasn't happy being alive, but resurrected just to be killed repeatedly by a Dalek, he didn't quite see the logic behind the Lord President's decision. He delivered another icy glare to the guard who had him held at gun point just to make sure he didn't make a run for it, apparently they were waiting for the Lord Presidents orders, no initiative any of them. The sound of footsteps falling heavily outside made him snap his eyes towards the door, perhaps this was the erstwhile Lord President, he was curious to know who it was, not many would dare bring him back to life, so whoever it was, they had guts. The door swung open and clattered against the wall, the sudden influx of bright light made the Master squint for a few moments, before blinking hard to try and regain his sight._

"_Leave us" ordered the voice from the doorway, feminine and assertive; he liked this Lord President more and more. The Guard threw him a glare before shutting the door behind him._

"_So, you brought me back, brave"_

"_Bringing you back Lord Master is not brave, it's impulsive and possibly disastrous but I'll take that risk" Mae snapped, leaning against the door with an aura of self confidence that she thought she never had. Ordering the lights to brighten Mae prepared herself for the Master's predictable outburst._

"_See that's better a little light...IT'S YOU!" The Master shouted, pure shock evident on his face_

"_How very observant of you"_

"_Lady Mae Alpha Rassilon, keeping it in the family are we?"_

"_Mocking me won't get you anywhere; I can just as easily order your death"_

"_But you won't"_

_At that Mae had no answer, resorting to scowling at him to show her displeasure "Look, I didn't come here to fight with you, I came to offer you a chance at redemption"_

_The Master scoffed "Oh great another bleeding heart, first the Doctor now you, I don't need forgiveness"_

"_Listen to me, I won't forgive you if you don't want me too, I won't even let the Doctor know that you are alive but _I _need your help"_

"_What does the kid wonder Lord President need my help for?"_

"_I'm going to Skaro"_

"_And they say I'm insane, they will kill you as soon as you set foot on that planet"_

"_I have to try"_

"_Try what, new and inventive ways of dying?"_

"_No, I have to try and save my people! I can't just let them die!"_

_**_

_The whole planet was thick with smoke and the smell of death as Mae half dragged half carried a newly regenerated semi conscious Master out of the mangled wreckage of her Tardis, her eyes stung with tears as she stared at her ship, the mental connection was broken as she died before her eyes. They had crash landed rather violently after the navigation systems had burnt out in the collision with her and the Master's Tardis. Looking around her Mae couldn't believe her eyes, the sheer devastation made her planet almost unrecognisable, she faintly heard someone call her name in the distance and she turned her head to see the doctor, badly wounded and leaning heavily against his Tardis. He beckoned her toward him with his hand as she watched a grimace spread across his features._

"_Master come on you have to try and walk for me" Mae urged, shaking his shoulder as gently as she could, his eyes opened slowly and he nodded as she helped him get shakily to his feet. The pair walked slowly to the Doctor, who had staggered back inside his Tardis. Guiding the Master inside, Mae sighed heavily, staring at the cracked central column. She felt the ship lurch as it started its flight off planet, eyes widening she rounded on the Doctor._

"_What are you doing? TAKE ME BACK!" she shouted, banging her fists on the controls, barely registering the slice it took out of her curled hand._

"_I'm carrying out your orders! To use the Moment"_

_Mae's heart constricted in her chest and she stopped breathing "Only if we have no other option!"_

"_We don't have another option, you tried reasoning with Davros and then the Emperor and look what good that did!"_

"_At least I tried! That will kill everyone there must be another way"_

"_You think that I would consider it if there was?"_

_Mae lowered her gaze and shook her head softly "No"_

_The Doctor tore his eyes off of the young Lord President, who was wise beyond her years, not many would have dared go to the Daleks to try and reason with them, but she had, and she had resurrected the Master, whether that was a wise move he wasn't sure, at the present time the master was in no state to cause any harm. Squeezing his eyes shut the Doctor activated the Moment, it beeped innocently and then silenced before the tinny voice requested "Presidential access code"_

_Mae snapped her head up "No, please no"_

"_Lord President you have no other option"_

"_You are asking me to deliver a death sentence to millions of people!" Mae shouted her balled fists shaking by her sides _

"_If the Daleks win they will destroy the whole universe!" The Doctor retaliated _

"_But you are asking me to kill my own people, my own planet!"_

"_You think I don't know that?!"_

"_The needs of the many" Mae said as she took a deep breath_

"_Outweigh the needs of the few" gasped the Master from his position on the floor, his breathing ragged as he nodded solemnly at Mae._

"_Ok" Mae whispered "Presidential access 7630delta8946537alpha" _

"_Moment activated"_

"_Detonate" Mae choked out, her head exploded with pain, she felt Gallifrey split in two as the eye of harmony was ripped out of the centre and catapulted towards the primary sun, the resulting supernova engulfed the entire planet and the remainder of the Dalek army. She fell to her knees as she heard her people screaming as they burned, tears streamed from her cheeks while she sobbed, curling into a ball she felt like she was dying, she vaguely registered the Master saying her name and stroking a hand over her cheek before her world went black._

Zoey jolted awake taking in a deep breath of air, sweat dripping down her brow, her heart was pounding hard in her chest, and her body was trembling in a way that it had never done before, the tears were cascading down her cheeks as she held back the sobs, never had that dream been so vivid in all the time she had had it since the war. Jumping as she felt the Master's arms wrap around her and pull her towards him, placing soft kisses to her temple and along her jaw line.

"How bad?" he whispered, holding her tightly, rocking her back and forth attempting to sooth her as best he could.

"It was bad, worse than it's ever been" she mumbled burying her head in his chest, clinging to him as hard as she could

"It's o.k. it's gonna be alright you'll see"

"Really, after 100 years and I still get nightmares, and that's the first time that I've ever got them with you here" she whimpered "I'm scared"

"Don't be, I'm here, I love you, nothing will hurt you"

"I love you too, I love you so much"

"Come on Zo get some rest, I'll protect you from your dreams as best I can"

"You don't have to do that"

"I do Mae"

Zoey stiffened and then melted into his touch, him using her nickname had never felt so right, she smiled and kissed him gently "Thanks, Koschei" she mumbled into his chest as she shut her heavy eyes, moulding her body against his, trying to get as much skin contact as she could, Zoey felt herself drifting off onto a deep and hopefully peaceful sleep.

"_Mae Alpha, come with us" asked one of the many cardinals that were gathered in the hall of the Time Academy._

_Mae reluctantly stepped forward, amid the rush of whispers at the ending of her nickname, the Alpha meant that she had gotten the highest mark possible in the exams she had taken to enter the Prydonian academy. She tried her best to slow her breathing, panicking wouldn't get her anywhere, at first she had been confused as to why she was taken to the Time Academy especially at the age of 8, and then she realised this was the final test, staring into the untempered schism._

"_This way please" they ordered as they walked regally through the large oak doors _

_Mae followed, quickening her pace to an almost jog just so she could keep up, through the oak doors was a room, that looked surprisingly like a garden, the smell of the flowers made her nose flare and tears to start leaking from her eyes, she rubbed them away quickly as she fought off a sneeze, trust them to have flowers. She looked ahead and she saw it, in the middle of the room, unlike other children she wasn't scared, and if she was she didn't feel it, she was mystified by it, the swirling patterns were beautiful. And she gasped to catch her breath, glancing at the Cardinals, she took her place on the podium and simply stared. At first nothing much happened, and she wondered what all the fuss was about, but then Mae felt like she was being torn from her body and thrust into the schism._

_It was too bright, too loud, too colourful. Every sense was in overdrive to try and make sense of what she was seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, but it wasn't working. Time simply moved past her and she hung her head, feeling like a failure, and that seemed like the catalyst. Suddenly everything around her made sense, and she could see ahead of her, three possible futures that she could have, each depended on what she did right here right now, curious she investigated each one, they all splintered as futures moulded themselves around that decision, if she remained standing here, with an aura of dominance she could become many things, she saw herself exploring the universe, being the Lord President, a doctor, a teacher, a councillor. But if she ran, all that changed, she was too different, a leader that followed her heart not her head, a disappointment to the father that was never there, gasping she turned her head to the last possible outcome, turning mad. That future was dark, she saw war, she saw herself being killed by radiation poisoning and the regeneration was painful, she saw herself killing her own people, with one word. She choose her path, the gold thread bound her future together, but as she turned, what she didn't see, was that she hadn't chosen one path, she had chosen the strongest combination, all three._

Zoey took a deep breath as she was once again awoke from her sleep, she glanced over her shoulder at the Master who was gripping her hand tightly, groggily pushing himself up to sit with her.

"Zoey you need to get yourself checked over, this isn't good for you"

"I know, but I figured that after a while it would go"

"How long has this been happening Zo?"

"Couple of weeks"

"Repeatedly?"

"Yeah"

"Zo, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry about me"

"What have they been about, the dreams"

"Everything and anything. The time war, initiation, academy life, when I was made Lord President, travelling, you"

"You're dreaming about your life"

"It seems so"

"Come on, get dressed we are getting you checked over"

"No Master please I'm fine"

"Zo, for me, just so I know that you're ok"

"Fine"

"Why initiation? If you don't mind me asking, yours was good wasn't it?"

"That's what I thought, until that dream, I'd buried it so far down that I'd forgotten what I saw, all these years I thought I was one of the ones that were inspired, but that dream made me realise I was wrong, I wasn't inspired, I was all three"

"You didn't go mad"

"Didn't I? I brought you back from the dead, I went to Skaro to bargain with Davros and the Emperor, I declared war on the Daleks, I helped start the Time War, I ended it by destroying our planet, what sane person would do that?"

"Zoey you're not mad, just impulsive"

"No, you said it yourself when I brought you back, they called you insane, but what I was doing, wasn't just impulsive or reckless, it was insane"

"Zoey it wasn't, you did what anyone would have done, and you didn't run away either"

"I did, don't you see? I could have given the doctor the codes and make myself go back onto the planet to stay with my people but I didn't, I stayed, I ran away because I didn't want to die!"

Suddenly the light in the room was flicked on, and both Zoey and the Master winced at the sudden brightness, they could see a figure in the doorway who seemed to be agitated.

"What is going on in here?" The Doctor asked, frowning at his fellow Time Lords

"Bad dream" Zoey mumbled, barely glancing up to meet the Doctor's expectant eyes

"Yeah that she's been having for weeks. Repeatedly"

"Right, Zoey to the Tardis now" The Doctor ordered, pointing out of the room

"Aww Doctor now? Lemme sleep"

"No Zoey, all you've been doing for the last week or so is sleep and have nightmares, so Tardis"

Glowering at him, Zoey pushed herself out of bed, straitening her camisole before crossing her arms in annoyance.

"You might want something warmer on, it's cold out there, Jackie hasn't put the heating on"

Zoey looked down at her body, a camisole that just past her midriff and a pair of girl's boxers, shrugging she looked back up at the Doctor "I'll be fine, Gallifrey was colder than Earth, so I'm sure I can handle Jackies living room"

The Doctor flinched at the mention of his planet but allowed Zoey past, gesturing for the Master to come with him, he followed Zoey to the Tardis, which was parked conveniently in Jackie's living room so that they could be ready to leave in the morning once Rose had had enough sleep. The door creaked open as they stepped inside, avoiding Mickey's haphazard dumping of bags on the walkway. The room quickly shifted into the medbay, and Zoey groaned before jumping up onto the bed, scowling at the Master.

"Right, full body scan please"

"Oh come on, you know I hate those things"

"Precisely why I'm doing one"

Huffing, she lay herself down on the bed, taking a deep breath as it began to move slowly into the whirring machine.

"Keep still for me Zoey"

"I know, I am a Doctor remember" she growled

Resisting the urge to tap her fingers Zoey lay in waiting for the scan to finish, it was horribly claustrophobic, the machine was loud and her body was itching to run away as fast as it could. After what felt like 20 minutes she finally felt the bed move out of the machine. As soon as it was clear she sat upright looking at the Doctor for the results, only he wasn't looking at her, he was glaring daggers at the Master, who gulped and stood by her side, gripping her hand tightly.

"Well?" She asked, diverting the Doctors attention from the Master who was almost cowering at her side.

"Good news, there isn't anything wrong with you"

"Then why am I sleeping all the time and having persistent dreams, that aren't always bad I have to say"

"That's the other news, interpret it as you will...you're pregnant"

Zoey's mouth dropped, looking at the Master, who was trying to grin at her while not making it look like a grin so the Doctor wouldn't kill him "I'm pregnant? Are you sure?"

"Yes" The Doctor ground out through gritted teeth

"I'm gonna be a mum, and you're gonna be a dad, and you're gonna be a granddad" Zoey breathed before she fainted.

"I thought I was the one who's supposed to faint" the Master muttered to her as he pressed a long kiss to her temple, ghosting his hand over her abdomen, grinning madly to himself, he looked up to the Doctor, who was positively murderous.

"You got her pregnant"

"Well, yes obviously"

"How?"

"When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much..." the master started condescendingly before cutting himself off at the look on the Doctor's face.

"You can't have done, the curse, every child has been loomed, for years, then you two just..."

"Look, I don't know either, I thought I was subject to that curse too, but clearly not"

"Clearly"

"I'm sorry"

The Doctor immediately broke out into a smile "What for? You have a baby, I'm gonna be a grandpa again, well as good as"

The Master grinned, before he faltered "Any tips on being a dad?"

"Sorry that's something you need to figure out yourself I'm afraid" The Doctor said as he walked past squeezing the Master's shoulder "Congratulations"

"Thanks" he murmured, stroking Zoey's stomach in wonder, thanking some non-existent higher power, his life was definitely looking up.

**Phew that was long, sorry if it's a little um bad and quick, I really couldn't do it any other way, but the whole Zoey flashbacks I felt they were important, I mean we know about the Doctor and the Master, but you obviously don't know about her, so I thought I give a sense of who she was, and I still will not tell how she saved the Master, I'm saving that for later, coz it will explain what I plan to do for the Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of The Time Lords episodes.**

**Enough from me! Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

_Go ahead and say goodbye, I'll be alright, go ahead and make me cry, I'll be alright, when you need a place to run to, for better, for worse I got you. I Got You-Leona Lewis_

Rose rubbed the tears from her eyes as she walked up the ramp of the Tardis; it was somewhat comforting to feel the grating under her feet. Her whole body just felt numb, this whole experience wasn't what she thought it would be, she had expected a parallel world to be interesting, to see a different side of yourself, the you that could have been had you made different choices. But it wasn't like that at all, because in this parallel world, there was no Rose Tyler, her mum had everything she had wanted, at the expense of having her daughter. And then the Cybermen had turned up, killing her mum in the process, another sob escaped as she realised that she had been part of her death, well her second death, Jackie Tyler of this world had died twice, she was too young. To top it off, the man who was her dad but wasn't, well he wanted nothing to do with her, the growing close to him only to have him ripped away was like the who reaper situation again, but this time he didn't die, he just walked away from her. Now there was no Mickey either, she had never treated him right, but he had always come running to her when she needed help, she had just taken him for granted, because of her she would never see him again, it was all her fault. The Master and The Doctor had tried to persuade her otherwise, but she refused to listen because she should have stopped him. Rose had even checked for all known alien species to this Earth, there still weren't any Time Lords, and Rose felt her gut wrench, they were always so alone, she had seen their eyes widen and the Master's panic when they had realised where they were, she had overheard the Doctor whispering to the Master that he couldn't hear Zoey anymore. Whatever that had meant, she guessed that it was bad and what was worse, they had seen Zoey's doppelganger at that party, and she had been killed by the cybermen, in front of the Master, that Rose thought had to have been the worst thing she had ever seen, looking up she saw the two Time Lords pilot the Tardis away from here and back to their rightful universe, the sigh of relief from the Master told her that they were back were they should be.

"Home" the Doctor whispered to her, enveloping her in a strong hug that she readily agreed to

"I am home" she whispered back

"To your mums then, we need to pick up Zo"

"Oh, that skive" Rose retorted, trying to lighten the mood

The Doctor chuckled as the Master smiled warmly "Don't let her hear you say that"

"Never" Rose grinned as she wriggled her way out of the doctors grasp "She'd kill me"

**

Zoey lay slumped on Jackie's sofa, clutching her stomach gingerly; nausea was gripping every part of her body, she had already thrown up twice this morning in the space of 30 minutes, some of the stuff she had thrown up she was convinced she had never eaten, but then with Jackie's cooking who knew? When Zoey thought about it, Jackie was looking a little suspicious, she hadn't told her that she was pregnant, that wasn't a good thing she was sure, but the way Jackie watched her, it was like she already knew.

"Zo, you want some dinner sweetheart?" Jackie called from the kitchen

Zoey cringed at the thought of eating anything, her stomach growled loudly, as if to advertise to Jackie that she was hungry, but just refused to eat. "Uhh I don't know, I still feel sick"

"You have to eat something, to keep your strength up, you're eating for two now you know" Jackie smirked, letting a soft chuckle escape her lips as she heard the soft thunk of Zoey toppling off the couch.

Bounding into the kitchen Zoey stared at Jackie, completely flabbergasted by what Jackie had just said "How did you even?"

"Zoey I'm a mother, do you really think I didn't notice?" she snickered, observing the young Time Lord with interest

"I" Zoey gasped, astounded by Jackie, who's powers of observation knew no bounds

"Now there is a sight I never thought I'd see, Zoey Saxon lost for words, you have a right gob on you you do"

Zoey blushed faintly "Yeah well, it's not often I get caught out" she admitted, the blush deepening as she regarded the amazing if terrifying human in front of her.

"Well how far along are you?"

"About two months now, what with me staying with you on the slow path"

"The slow path?" Jackie questioned, her brow furrowed in puzzlement at the phrase

"Oh sorry I forgot, Time in the Tardis, well it's different to time on Earth, I could have spent a day on the Tardis compared to two months on Earth for you, so I age two months on Earth compared to the day on the Tardis, see where I'm going with this"

"I think so"

"The Tardis can, essentially land anywhere anytime, within reason of course, so we could drop Rose off twelve hours after we left, but the Doctor is a horrendous pilot so we never get where we need to be, the whole werewolf thing being a prime example"

Jackie stared in quiet contemplation, Zoey's words filtering into her memory, she couldn't help but admire the woman for her enthusiasm, even though sometimes it seemed she would much rather be somewhere else. The opening of the door, distracted Jackie's attention, realising that it was just Jack, she relaxed herself.

"Hey Jac's I got that thing you wanted though why you wanted it is beyond me, had to fight this old woman for it, never wanna do that again" Jack shouted through to the kitchen, as he carried the bags through, dumping them on the bench top. Only then did he notice a smug, if slightly baffled Jackie and a furiously blushing Zoey.

"What'd I miss?"

"Nothing" Zoey added quickly

"You might as well tell him, if you don't I will"

"Tell me what?" Jack asked intrigued, leaning in to emphasise his interest

"Jackie that's blackmail" Zoey complained as she tried the puppy eyes

"Yes, I know"

"But"

"I will, don't think I won't"

"Fine, Jack I'm pregnant"

Jack stared blankly for a few seconds before her words hit him, against his will his face broke into a dazzling grin and enveloped her into a bone crushing hug "Congratulations" he whispered into her ear, feeling her smile into his shoulder he held her tighter. Causing a grunt of surprise before she pushed herself out of his embrace.

"Well I might as well ask you both now seen as though you know, will you be godparents?"

"Oh Zoey yes" Jackie gushed kissing the surprised Time Lord on the cheek "I'll put this shopping away and then we'll talk" and with that Jackie busied herself with all the bags that were sitting on the bench top.

Jack grabbed Zoey by the arm and tugged her through to the living room "Time Lords don't have godparents do they?" Jack questioned sceptically, raising his eyebrow at her, causing her blush to deepen fractionally.

"Um, no"

"Then why?"

"Because, my life is dangerous, you know that, I want to make sure that if anything happens to me and the Master, that our child has a home to go to, so will you?"

"Of course I will, but Zo, my life is just as dangerous"

"I understand that, but I trust you implicitly Jack"

Before Jack could respond, a lazy grin spread across Zoey's face and her eyes glazed over, the sound of ancient grinding engines filled the room and the Tardis materialised. Zoey snapped out of whatever had taken over her and pulled the door open to be met with a tearful Rose.

"What happened?" Zoey asked, concern spiking for her friend

"ROSE!" Jackie cried running to her daughter, who burst into tears and hugged Jackie tightly "What is it sweetheart, where did you go?"

"Far away" replied the Doctor, who was leaning on the Tardis door.

The Master appearing by his side and quickly pushing his way past him so that he could get to Zoey kissing her deeply, his hands trembled as he gripped her arms, pulling her as close to him as he could. He had to feel her, feel the erratic beating of her fragile single heart, feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, feel the unnoticeable position in her abdomen that was carrying their child, he needed everything just to know that she was alive.

Zoey grudgingly pulled herself away, wrapping her arms around him, she could feel every tremor that ran through him, and for the first time the roles were reversed, she was comforting him, his head was buried in her shoulder and she could feel the wetness as tears leaked from his eyes. Something inside Zoey told her to use their bond as communication, so rather than whispering to him audibly, she spoke softly mentally, reciting an old Gallifreyan lullaby, it seemed to work as he sniffed and relaxed, moving away to quickly rub the tears from his eyes.

"Doctor where's Mickey?" Zoey asked

"He went home, worlds away"

Zoey's head bowed, that was all she needed to know, they had been to an alternate universe and something there had spooked the Master, and now she was determined to find out what.

**

The Tardis was finally back in the vortex with all her occupants, Jack had asked to be dropped off in Cardiff for reasons the Doctor didn't want to know about. He gazed lovingly at his companions, it felt good to have the old team back together, and it just wasn't right when one of them was missing. The atmosphere on board the Tardis had almost righted itself, the awkwardness and tension there had been with Mickey had vanished into nothingness, there was a slight air of secrecy about the place, what with Zoey waiting to tell Rose about her being pregnant, and the Doctor suspected something else was going on but he had decided to let them, them being Zoey and the Master, tell him when they were ready.

"So, where to next?" The Doctor asked, his friends turning to face him

"Anywhere" Rose replied first, giving him that adorable smile that made his legs turn to jelly.

"Anywhere?" The doctor repeated, a stunned look on his face

"Yeah set the old girl to random, I like surprises" Rose grinned, causing Zoey to gulp audibly

"Speaking of surprises, I ah have something to tell you" ...


	12. Chapter 12

_I wish I could save you, I wish I could say to you "I'm not going nowhere", I wish I could say to you "it's gonna be alright". Save You-Kelly Clarkson_

Zoey lounged on the captain's chair, her legs stretched out and resting on the console, her nose buried in a book, which was unusual in itself, book reading wasn't really her thing, but she remembered a human expression that Rose had told her "Don't knock it till you've tried it", so here she was, trying it. It was a difficult task, reading slowly, she was used to flicking through pages and finishing the book in seconds flat, but Rose had insisted that she read at human speed, page by page. But oddly enough she was enjoying herself, so much so that she had politely declined the trip out to buy chips, it was cold and wet out there, and she was not about to wander around in the rain, she wasn't mental, unlike some people she could mention. Her eyes merely flicked up when she heard the Tardis doors swing open, and three rather soaked people trudging into the room, trailing mud and water everywhere, they stood shivering, the doors still open and looking at her expectantly.

"I hope you three are gonna clean that up" she said as she pointed to the mess on the floor, the doctor looked down and saw the pool of murky water at his feet, glancing back up at Zoey he smiled sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair, which was plastered to his face.

"Don't worry, I'll sort it" he grinned still shivering from the cold "Is it me or is it really cold in here?" he asked staring at Zoey for some confirmation, the doctor shrunk back however when she fixed him with a glare

"Try closing the doors Einstein" Zoey says scathingly, trying to get back to her book, she hears the doors close, and the sounds of three sets of footsteps walking out of the control room with all their bags, Zoey smiles and continues to read when she is disturbed again by a tap on her shoulder. She turns to see the perpetrator, a low growl escaping her throat.

"What?" she hissed through gritted teeth

The Master only grinned and jabbed her side with his fingers "Aren't we pissy today?" he asked as he sat himself down next to her.

Zoey could feel the cold rolling off of him so much that a light spattering of Goosebumps had appeared on her arms; she sighed and placed the book down, her brow furrowing in annoyance "I am not pissy!"

The Master snorted "You sure?"

Zoey's mouth opened and closed a few times before she shrugged and conceded defeat muttering "Hormones" under her breath, which the Master caught, chuckling he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her toward him.

"I'm trying to read" Zoey protested weakly, snuggling further into his chest

"Clearly"

Zoey would have frowned and hit him, if she were not so content just being in his arms, listening to the sound of his duel heartbeat, it was comforting, they sounded so loud and strong, like nothing in the universe could make them stop, and she hoped to Rassilon nothing would. She concentrated for a moment to try and isolate her own heartbeat, upon finding it she slumped, it sounded so weak in comparison, now she couldn't wait to regenerate, after she had had their child of course. And even their baby had two hearts, that wasn't fair.

"Oi you two! Dinner!" The Doctor shouted, marching back into the control room, his hair still plastered to his head, some of it sticking up at odd angles where he had ran his hand through it.

The Master huffed and began to move "Fine we're on our way"

Zoey sighed as he pulled away, the electricity still bouncing between them, it was intoxicating, she looked him up and down for the first time since he had gotten in and she had to hold back a snort, his suit was dripping wet...literally, his tie was pulled loosely around his neck, his shirt had gone see through, his hair was plastered to his head as the Doctor's had been, and his skin was flushed, he looked like a drowned rat.

"Master, I strongly recommend that you go and get changed into something dry, and warm up, with tea or something, you are going to get a cold"

"Zo, darling, I'm a Time Lord, not a human, I. Don't. Get. Colds. My immune system would knock it out like that" he grinned as he clicked his fingers

"Well don't say I didn't warn you, come on kitchen, the chips are getting cold" Zoey smiled as she grabbed his hand, that although it was cold seamed to cause a scorching heat up her arm, and the familiar ache in her stomach returned, yearning for him, sighing she pulled him up and off of the chair and towards the kitchen.

"Hey you two took your time, Zo I got you two portions coz I figured that you and mini master could use all the food you could get" Rose rambled as she handed a bewildered Zoey a plate piled high with chips.

"Mini Master?" Zoey repeated, head tilted in confusion

"Yeah, something tells me it's going to be a boy" Rose said, smiling broadly as Zoey and the Master sat at the table.

"Really? You got that too" Zoey asked

Rose nodded as she plopped a chip into her mouth, yelping as she bit into it "Hot" cringing slightly before answering "It's weird, like my whole self just knows, just like when you told me I wasn't really surprised because something inside me already knew"

"Odd" Zoey said nodding her head in acceptance, stealing a chip from the Master's plate and putting it in her mouth

"How dare you!" The Master cried, as he snatched a chip back from Zoey's plate "Have you seen how many chips you have there!"

"Hungry" Zoey shrugged nonchalantly

The Doctor just smiled, shaking his head fondly "You're gonna need to get used to that"

"You're telling me" the Master commented dryly

Whatever protests Zoey was going to come up with were halted by the landing of the Tardis, which was not surprisingly rather violent, sending chips flying through the air.

"What a waste" The Doctor said before sprinting off with Rose in hot pursuit towards the Tardis doors to find out where they were.

"Suppose that we should follow them huh?" The Master asked his fiancée, getting his feet, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Do we have to?" she moaned, looking expectantly at him

"'Fraid so"

Zoey groaned, grabbing a handful of chips, she got up and reluctantly made her way from the Tardis

**

"We've landed in a cupboard" The Doctor says excitedly as he steps out of the Tardis, Rose at his side, Zoey and the Master following slowly behind them. The Doctor pushes open the door in front of them and a tinny voice informs them of it's opening.

"So come on then where are we?" Zoey asks, agitated beyond belief at being torn away from food that she actually wanted to eat, not that horrible mushy stuff that the Doctor had given her to eat that was supposed to be some old Gallifreyan recipe, whatever it was it was disgusting and she would never eat it again as long as she lived, ever.

"I dunno, some sort of base... moon base, sea base, space base... they build these things out of kits. Human design - you've got a thing about kits. This place was put together like a flat-pack wardrobe, only bigger. And easier" The Doctor babbles enthusiastically

"Thank god for IKEA ey?" Zoey quipped

"Oh no, they don't still have IKEA do they?" Rose asked, grinning madly

"Yeah, in most places actually" The Master adds, grabbing Zoey by the hand as he did so

"Reckon they got this place from IKEA" Rose says, laughing at the notion

"More than likely, looks like they got it from IKEA" Zoey grumbles

"What makes you say that?" asks the Doctor looking expectantly at his daughter(ish)

"Looks like it could fall apart at any moment doesn't it" Zoey grinned her eyes lighting up at her comment.

"Who actually goes there to buy stuff?" Rose questions

"Dunno anyone mad enough, I just go to nick the pencils" the Master smiles innocently

"ME TOO!" Rose shouts, her laughter bubbling into hysterics

Walking through another door, they find themselves in large room, the Doctor sprints into the middle, looking around in awe, his excitement evident as he bounces on the spot for a couple of minutes announcing "It's a sanctuary base! Deep space exploration!"

"Welcome to Hell" Rose says quietly, reading the writing that was written on the wall with confusion, her eyebrows knotting together in puzzlement.

"Oh it isn't _that _bad Rose, lighten up a little" The Master smiles squeezing Rose's shoulders

Rose chuckles and shakes her head "No, there look" she points to the wall where the words are emblazoned across it in large red letters, some ancient text is written underneath.

The Doctor scowls as he bounds over, squinting at the text "That's odd, the Tardis hasn't translated" he stares some more, but the text remains frustratingly unreadable.

"But that's impossible isn't it?" Rose asks curious "The Tardis translates everything, shouldn't that be English?"

"Yeah, this must be ancient, impossibly old" he mutters before rounding on Zoey

"What?"

"Can you translate this?"

"I dunno why me?"

The doctor gave her look that said she knew exactly why, being the Lord President was such a bummer. Letting out a suffering sigh she stomped towards the writing, squatting down to get a better view.

"You know it's been over a hundred years since I've done this don't you?" she grumbled, her fingers tracing the outline of each symbol, burning their image to memory, her brain quickly comparing them to known words or possible meanings. Scowling she turned to the Doctor "This one" she started jabbing her finger at the symbol in question "Means battle, I think. Um that means victorious. Defeat" she said shaking her head, completely baffled "Light, that's definitely light. Something about a pit being closed, I can't tell you anything else, my brain just won't translate, it's like I know the answer but I don't" she shrugged "That's there though" pointing at the red lettering above her "Right uh there ˋWelcome to Hell´" shaking her head she stood up again "That's the best I can do I'm afraid"

"That's great Zoey thanks" The Doctor grinned, for all her hormonal moodiness, Zoey was the best Lord President he thought he had ever had.

**

"That. Isn't. Possible" Zoey gasps as she stares up at the glowing redness of the Back hole above them, sucking in light and planets all around it, except this one.

"We are in orbit" Ida explains, at least that's what Zoey thinks she said her name was

"No, no, no I'm a physicist and I am telling you that's impossible" Zoey counters, jabbing her finger skyward

"You're a doctor Zoey" The Master says exasperatedly

"I have a physics degree as well, I'm a bloody physicist!" she snaps turning her attention back to Ida

"Well we are in orbit, you can see that"

"So that's bad?" Rose asks Zoey, who looks furious

"Yes, a black hole is a dead star, that collapses in on itself until matter is so dense and tight its starts to pull everything else inside it too, nothing escapes, it has enormous gravity, and I mean enormous, obviously there is a point when whatever is heading towards it is doomed, that's the event horizon"

"What's the event horizon?"

"You know when you're swimming against a rivers flow, well there will come a point when you stop moving forwards, when the forward movement equals the force pushing you back, that's the event horizon, pass that and you have no choice but to move backward"

"So this is bad yeah"

"Oh yeah, we should be very dead"

"But here we are, defying your laws of physics"

"Well not really, but whatever" Zoey mutters, her lips twitching into a smile

"How did you even get here?" the Master asks, staring in contemplation at the people before him, who all seemed bemused by the situation.

"We flew in" Zach answered

"What? How, you should have been pulled straight in" The Doctor says, pulling out his glasses and staring at the hologram that Zach has shown them

"Look, this planet is generating a gravity field, we haven't the slightest how, but its kept in constant balance against the black hole" Zach explained, pointing to the clear funnel on the hologram "That's how we got here"

"That's genius" Zoey exclaims a wide smile on her face as she stares lovingly at the hologram

"Oh thanks" Zach says, casting his gaze downward

"No, not you, anyone could have flown down that thing, I'm talking about the funnel itself, its genius, pure genius, don't think I'd have even come up with that" Zoey babbled excitedly

"That field would take enormous amounts of power, and I mean off the scale enormous" The Doctor gestures wildly with his hands "Can I?" he asks pointing at the calculator.

"Sure" Zach spins the calculator toward him lazily

"Doctor, you need a power source with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds" Zoey supplied with a yawn

"That's a lot of sixes" Rose said offhandedly

"It's also impossible, or at least it should be"

"It took us two years to work that out!" Zach exclaims

Zoey shrugs modestly "Physicist" she says in explanation, the Doctor looking a little downcast at having been beaten at a calculation.

"That's why we are here! There is something buried down there, through 10 miles of solid rock, we're drilling down to find it"

"It's buried beneath us, waiting in the darkness"

"What are you chief dramatist?" The Master asks condescendingly as Toby scowls at him

"Well, whatever it is down there is not a natural phenomenon. And this, er, planet once supported life. Eons ago, before the human race had even learned to walk" Toby rectifies

"You wrote that on the wall out there?" The Master questions, head tilted

"Yeah, I copied it from fragments we found on the surface, I can't translate it though"

"Well lucky for you Toby, we've found someone who can" The Master grinned, pulling Zoey forward

"You can translate it?!" Toby gasps in awe

"Lets not get ahead of ourselves, I can partly translate it, the rest I don't remember, forgotten"

"Can you get anything from this?" Toby asks, reaching into a pocket to grab a piece of slate with the same symbols on it.

Zoey reaches out and takes it from him, examining it closely, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion, she traces the symbols again, this time the memory bank breaks open and the information floods into her brain, in Gallifreyan. She groans and sets about translating Gallifreyan to English, and its awkward because words in Gallifreyan have many meanings, depending on how you say them. Zoey shook her head and handed it back to him "It says something about a battle, it raged for years and light was victorious, the pit was closed for eternity, something is asleep, I can't give you anymore. Gallifreyan translation is harder than I thought"

The Doctor winced "You understand what that says?"

"Yeah, in Gallifreyan, but I can't get it to English, it's almost as if I'm forbidden" she shrugged

**

The Doctor, Rose, The Master and Zoey sit in companionable silence at a table in the control room, as the last of the Scarlet system disappears into the eternal blackness of the black hole, each wishing they could just go back to the Tardis, only to deflate as they remember that it's gone, fallen into some great chasm at the centre of this god forsaken planet, never to be seen again.

"Rose I'm so sorry" The Doctor says, caressing Rose's hand in his, squeezing it gently in reassurance

"You have nothing to be sorry for" Rose says tenderly

"We do, we promised Jackie we would always take you home" The Master sighs, tapping his fingers in a familiar rhythm on the table, the lost drumbeat suddenly coming to the forefront of his mind.

"Everyone leaves home in the end" Rose argues, knowing where they are coming from with their argument but all the same, there is no place she would rather be than wherever they are, admittedly she would rather it wasn't here, but what could she do? She was only human, shaking her head mentally, no she was more than that, she had saved the world more times than she could remember, she wasn't just a human, not anymore, she had a higher purpose.

"Not to get stuck here they don't" Zoey said numbly, shifting closer to the Master, feeling the gentle caress of his mind as it wrapped itself around hers singing ancient songs, songs that defined them both, their true names flitted there as well, whispering over their consciousness like a gentle breeze shaking the red grass of home.

"Regardless, stuck here with you – that's not so bad"

"Yeah?" The Doctor asks, eyes boring into hers, almost as if he could see into her soul

"Yes" Rose answers sincerely, kissing him soundly to exaggerate her point

The Master and Zoey exchange smug glances, just daring the other to make the first move, mental challenges are being thrown in any direction, coaxing each other to break. The shrill bleating of Rose's mobile abruptly stalls their competition, each with a deep set frown on their faces.

"I thought you said that had no signal" Zoey points warily as Rose digs for her phone

"It didn't" Rose answers cautiously

"Then why is it ringing?"

Shakily bringing the phone to her ears, Rose presses the answer button and listens to the call, hastily throwing her phone to the floor, her breathing ragged as she stares worriedly at the phone on the floor.

"What is it Rose? What did it say?" Zoey prompts urgently, her eyes wild

"I-it said he is awake"

Zoey's eyes widened and grabbed the Master's hand tugging him up with her "We need to warn them come on!"

"Warn them about what? Zoey!"

"He is AWAKE!" she screamed back, as she tried to sprint down the corridor, but was held back by the master

"Explain Zo"

"That text, it said specifically that he is asleep or something akin to sleep, but now he is awake!"

"Who's he?"

Zoey faltered and worried her lip, trying to think of how to phrase the warning alarms that were blaring in Gallifreyan in her head "Best literal translation I can give you is beast"

"Who's the beast?"

"Well I don't bloody know do I?"

**

"It's got that writing all over it" The Doctor moans as he stares at the huge circular structure "That only Zoey can translate"

Told you, you should have let me go down there with you Zoey's voice came over the comm. And the Doctor scowled, staring at the symbols adorning the outside.

You're pregnant! The Doctor countered, his voice crackling through the static

"Doesn't make me an invalid" Zoey sighed, glaring to herself at the doctor's over protectiveness, turning leisurely to Toby she grinned "Did you get anywhere with those symbols?"

"I know what it says" Toby whispers, his body trembling

"Then we need your help" The Master said cautiously, taking a slow step towards him "Zoey can't do it on her own"

Toby stands. He turns towards them, revealing that he is covered in the symbols, eyes red. When Toby speaks, it is with the Voice of the Beast, deep and menacing, glaring at all the people in the room. "These are the words of the beast, and he has woken, he is the heart that beats in the Darkness, he is the blood that will never cease, and he will rise"

"Oh I don't think so" Zoey growls "You lost didn't you, in that battle"

"Ah" Toby chuckles menacingly "Rassilon's daughter, forever in his shadow"

Zoey's jaw tightened as she stared at Toby "Mind tricks won't work with me, I'm in no one's shadow" she said calmly as she advanced further forward, past the barrier the Master was trying to create "You lost against the light didn't you, and if those symbols truly are the words of the beast, then how did they depict the battle hmm?"

"You don't know as much as you think you do"

"I know enough, you see, I've thought this through, unlike you for example, light versus darkness, that's a little cliché don't you think? Except it isn't is it, it's true, there was a battle between light and dark, but not in the way everyone thinks. Don't you just hate it when the Guardians get involved?" she grinned as Toby narrowed his eyes

"Zoey what are you talking about?" the Master asks, his head tilted in confusion

"THINK ABOUT IT! The Black Guardian is a bit of an arse, loves chaos and death and destruction, and the White Guardian picks up the pieces and makes it better, what if, at one point before they reached a truce, they fought. The Black Guardian being the devious bastard created a beast, but not just any old beast, an intelligent one, one that thinks and acts for itself, well relatively. But the White Guardian, well creating a monster was out of the question, so he made an army, an army of the light, and they lived here, on Kroptor, and they fought, but the White Guardian won! And the beast was trapped for all eternity"

Zoey that doesn't explain the writing comes the doctor's voice over the crackling comm in Rose's hand

"Oh but it does, the people of the light came up with the ultimate humiliation didn't they, they wrote exactly what happened in your language, and ohhh were you mad, and I don't blame you, if any Dalek wrote in Gallifreyan I'd be pretty mad too, but now you want revenge, it's taken three adult Time Lords to wake you up and your pissed"

"The Time Lord will cease speaking"

"The Time Lord will not"

"Cease" Toby held out his hand in Zoey's direction and her eyes widened in shock as her legs buckled and she collapsed.

"ZOEY!" The Master shouted as he moved toward her, just catching her limp body as she fell to the floor, jerking occasionally "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!" he screamed

Rose what is it, what's happened? the doctor demanded urgently

"I-it's Zoey, he's done something to her, she's collapsed" Rose choked, tears stinging her eyes

"She is asleep, reliving the worst moments of her life, a mild punishment" Toby said maliciously, smirking at the Master who looked positively murderous.

**

"This is the darkness, this is my domain" the beast starts, as Zoey whimpers tears leaking from her closed eyes.

"The captain, so scared of command. The Soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The Scientist, still running from daddy. The little boy who lied, the virgin, the lost girl so far from home who will die in battle so very soon. The Master, the disgrace to his people. The Doctor, the destroyer of his own kind. Zoey Saxon, the Lord President fighting for eternity because she left them to die"

"You will die-and I will live!" an image of a horned beast is seen the screen that the Ood had previously occupied, everyone except the Doctor and the Master take a step back in fear, panic ensues as the humans desperately try to find out what is going on.

Zoey groans from the floor and forces her eyes open, flashes of war invading her mind, attempting to stop her from speaking. Weakly she pushes herself up, the Master by her side within seconds, helping her to her feet, allowing her to cling to him for support. "Stop" she croaked, her mind being assaulted with her worst nightmares. "STOP!" she cries "This is what it wants, chaos"

But it knew all that stuff, about my father Ida can be heard whispering over the comm. obviously frightened.

Okay, but what makes his version of the truth any better than mine? Hmm? Cos I'll tell you what I can see: humans. Brilliant humans. Humans who travel all the way across space. Flying in a tiny little rocket into the orbit of a black hole! Just for the sake of discovery, that's amazing! Do you hear me? Amazing. All of you. The captain - his officer - his elder - his genius - his friends. All with one advantage. The Beast is alone. We are not. If we can use that to fight against him, just like the White Guardian and his army, it's happened once it will happen again The Doctor is cut off by the snapping of the cable, 10 miles of heavy duty cable descends down the shaft at lightning speed. The Doctor and Ida scramble out of the capsule just as the cable comes through the top.

"DOCTOR!" Rose shouts, tears now leaking freely from her eyes as the comm. goes quiet, only static can be heard.

"Don't you see, anyone who talks the remotest piece of sense, the beast silences them, it's afraid of us, rational thinkers" The Master growls, his chest heaving in anger, blood pounding mercilessly through his body, so much that he can hear it rushing through veins and arteries and capillaries, hammering through with reckless abandon, the pressure has risen so much that he has to blink to focus as his vision blurs. The drumbeat that was so long forgotten as returned with an intensity that tears threaten to leak from his eyes, the pounding inside his head almost tips him over the edge that he has been teetering on for so long, the smallest nudge would send him plummeting into insanity, but he can't he has to fight it, for Zoey, for their child. The beat gets louder as he fights, stepping away from the edge he was hanging onto, every beat of his hearts becomes painful, and he dare not draw a breath because every action makes him feel like he's dying. The pain becomes too much as his vision clouds, his brain haemorrhages and he collapses, lifeless to the ground.

Zoey rushes forward, feeling rapidly for a pulse, the weak fluttering under her finger tips only serves to heighten her distress, his heartbeat was weak and irregular, a sudden wave of panic washed over her body as the bond they shared revealed the problem, cursing fluently in Gallifreyan she turned to the humans behind her.

"I need Nimodipine now!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face

"Nimodipine?" Danny asks confused

"He's had a subarachnoid haemorrhage; I need the Nimodipine to prevent vessel spasm!"

"Zoey, how has this happened?"

"Think Rose, its the beast, the Master worked him out, and so did I, so now he's punishing us, me whatever but I need to save him, I can't live without him Rose!"

**

Finally back on the Tardis, with Kroptor and the beast engulfed by the black hole and the remainder of the human crew on their way back to Earth, Rose waited anxiously outside of the med bay while Zoey and the Doctor operated on the Master, who was still in a critical condition. She sighed heavily, she never wanted to go through something like that again, they had all came so close to losing each other today, and they were still so close to losing the Master.

The monotonous beeping of the heart monitor was all Zoey was clinging too, as she guided the catheter through the network of blood vessels towards the Master's brain, taking in a deep breath as the tube reached his head she searched for the aneurysm. Calming herself as she found it, she began the process of feeding platinum coils through the tube toward and into the aneurysm.

"It's in Zoey" the Doctor said, as he followed Zoey's instructions, monitoring levels of anaesthetic and the positioning of the coils.

"Is it completely blocked?"

"Yeah, no blood flow, you did it"

Slowly removing the catheter and remaining coil from its insertion point in his femoral artery, she brushed his head with the non-bloodied back of her hand, before closing the opening in the femoral artery and in his leg. She was about to remove her gloves when the heart monitor alarm blared, shaking she watched as his heart rate crashed to zero output, the long flat line would be forever burned to her memory.

"No, no, no, no, no, no" she gasped as she reached for the defibrillators, switching them on and anxiously waiting for them to charge "Charging 240, clear" she chocked as she placed the paddles on his chest, his body jerking horribly as electricity surged through him.

"No response"

"360, clear" the paddles once again were applied to his chest and his body jerked higher this time, but the monitor was still flat lined

"Still nothing"

"COME ON!!" Zoey screamed as the defibrillator recharged and was applied again and again to his chest.

"Zoey, he's gone" The Doctor said, moving from his place at the masters head, to Zoey, putting an arm around her shoulders

"No he isn't! Just let me..."

"Zoey, it's over, he's dead"

"But he has to be ok, he can just regenerate and everything will be alright" she cried, barely able to see through the tears

"No sweat heart, he can't, there was no time. He was gone before he had the chance"

"Please let me try, he can't" Zoey whispered her voice cracking

"Come on Zo, there isn't anything else we can do"

Zoey silenced, listening to the shrill alarm of the monitor, the continuous depiction of the flat line was too much. Legs shaking and her head screaming she reached over and turned off the monitor, the deafening silence was all that remained. Ripping off her blood stained gloves she sunk to the floor, and buried her head in her hands as she screamed, a high pitched bone chilling scream of anguish.

"Zoey I am so sorry, but you have to be strong, for the baby's sake if nothing else" The Doctor said softly, tears spilling silently down his cheeks, looking at the pale still form of the Master on the bed, he shook and left the room, not being able to take the sight of his best friend beyond all hope.

Zoey glanced upward to see the Doctor exit, pushing herself up she grabbed a bed and pushed it next to the Master's. Climbing onto it, she shakily lay down next to him, gripping his cold lifeless hand in hers.

"I love you"


	13. Chapter 13

_If the universe is a place that we call home  
We're not alone  
Why should we believe that we're here on our own?  
We're not alone  
Is there anyone here without doubt in their mind?  
Is there anyone too blind to open their eyes?  
Realise  
We're not alone, we're not alone. We're not Alone-Son Of Dork_

The first thing the Master noticed was that the pain was gone; his head no longer felt like it would explode at any second, his hearts thrummed defiantly in his chest and he took in a long shaky breath, the crisp cold air chilling his trachea. The second, after he opened his eyes, was that he wasn't on that base anymore, and he wasn't in the Tardis med bay, wherever he was it was bright, as though it was just a room filled with white light, panic consumed him when he realised he couldn't feel Zoey or the Doctor in his head, that was never a good sign. Had he regenerated? Again? No this didn't feel like regeneration, and he couldn't see any of his other selves around here, oh this was bad.

"_Zoey, he's gone"_

"_I love you"_

Information started to flood into his brain and realisation dawned on him, he was dead and he had left Zoey and his baby behind, he wanted to lash out as the anger consumed him but there was nothing to lash out at, the drums that had resurfaced where gone once again, he almost missed them, almost.

"Master" a voice announced from behind him and the Master spun around, choking on the sudden influx of air he had taken in, there before him stood the Guardians, the white guardian the picture of empathy, whereas the black guardian had the look of someone who would rather be somewhere else. The Master's eyes narrowed and he angrily marched forward toward them, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, his body trembled with anger as he squared up to them, desperately trying to restrain himself in fear of hitting them.

"What have you done this time Master?" The White Guardian asked with a sigh

"You tell me!" the Master shot back, glaring venomously "It's his fault I'm here!" he cried jabbing the Black Guardian as hard as he could

"Not directly" The Black Guardian yawned

"Your bloody beast killed me!"

"Unfortunate"

The Master's jaw clenched and he shuddered just remembering the fact that he used to be like the Black Guardian, cold and uncaring. "Send me back"

"Master, that is not possible" The White Guardian said calmly

"Don't give me that, Zoey managed to get me resurrected and she's a Time Lord, you're a guardian you can do anything" the Master tried desperately

"I will not break the law to send you back"

"I don't want the holier than thou act, you've done it before, please I need her"

"And therein lies our problem" The Black Guardian answered

"Problem?"

"Zoey is needed for future events, as are you, but you have gone and gotten yourself killed, you need each other and for these future events to be successful you need to be with her and your quite evidently not but if Zoey gets an idea in her head she will tear apart the universe to get you back and that's dangerous, and I can't believe I just said that" The Black Guardian rambled

"So then just let me live and disaster averted"

"It isn't that simple"

"Isn't it?"

"No, we send you back and the aneurysm will burst all over again. Sending platinum through your brain, and we're right back where we started"

"Ah, can you not fix it?"

"Fix what?"

"The aneurysm, it's the least you can do, considering you caused it in the first place" he added the last part of that sentence to be petulant, if acting like a child was the only way to make them send him back then that's the way he was going to play it.

"I never thought of that"

"Of course you didn't" the Master snarked, raising an eyebrow expectantly

"Fine, we will remove the aneurysm and send you home, send our love to Zoey would you"

The Master felt the Guardians give him a hard shove before he was hurtling through time itself, or whatever spiritual part of him this was was hurtling through time, he landed with a thud inside his body, it was cold and the blood was starting to clot, but he focused all of his energy just to start one contraction, that's all he needed. _Thump _and there it was one heart had been willed into contracting, but it was weak and operating on its own, he needed adrenaline to speed up his heart rate. His brain was the next to start to function, it was groggy and slow and in no hurry to go any faster, but he felt all he needed to feel, Zoey was there inside is head, but her pain was overwhelming and he felt his own tears slip down his cheeks. He felt the next stage of his revival, air rushed into his lungs and he had to stop himself from gulping it down, the screaming demand for oxygen was finally met as the second heart finally kick started itself following a huge adrenaline rush and a few friendly zaps from the guardians.

Zoey squeezed her eyes shut, her brain had to be making this up, she had felt his heart beat restart through his hand, she heard the gasp for air, and the re-establishment of their bond, but it couldn't be real, he had been dead for just over two hours. The level of trickery coming from her brain surprised even her as she felt his hand begin to heat up, she shook her head violently, it isn't real. Taking her chances she opened her eyes to see him staring at her, he most certainly hadn't been doing that before, oh Rassilon what if she was dead, yeah that must be it.

"Zoey" he croaked, reaching hand to her face and tracing its outline, feeling her lean into his touch eagerly

"This isn't real, either I'm hallucinating or I'm dead"

"You aren't dead Zo"

"Oh great I'm hallucinating, I've finally gone mental"

"Zoey you aren't hallucinating, I'm here and I will never leave you again"

"I have to be, because you're dead, I watched you...I" Zoey sobbed tears once again making tracks down her face, that the Master quickly rubbed away, pulling her towards him and kissing her, Zoey lay motionless in shock for about a fraction of a second before she started kissing him back, slowly and cautiously at first, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him, she moaned loudly into his mouth, and he deepened their kiss, running his tongue over her bottom lip, asking silently for entrance, the whimper was all he needed, and his tongue pushed into her mouth, meeting a surprising amount of competition from Zoey's own tongue, not liking the idea that it wasn't in control it battled his for dominance. Zoey felt the urgency of their kiss increasing, she could feel her hands tangled around his neck and in his hair and she moaned again, she felt the rumble in the Master's chest that sounded like an appreciative growl, and she pushed herself closer to him, begging for more contact. The Master was overwhelmed, exploring every inch of her mouth, remembering everything that he could, savouring everything, it was intoxicating, he suddenly remembered that he had to breathe and pulled away slowly, taking her bottom lip and grazing his teeth over it gently. He pulled away completely and took in as much air as he could, breathing heavily, he rested his forehead on hers, kissing her softly once more.

"Can a hallucination do that?" he gasped, his breathing ragged

Zoey gave him a toothy grin as her tongue poked between her teeth "Only a very good one"

"Do you believe I'm here now?"

Biting her lip she nodded before violently pushing him off of the bed, the loud crash gave her some satisfaction "I hope you break your leg you IDIOT!" she shouted as her mood rapidly swung from desire to outrage.

"What was that for?" The Master pouted, easing himself back onto the bed, every part of his body was aching too much to comprehend.

"That was for leaving me, you died, I lost you"

"I know, and I am truly sorry"

With that Zoey threw her arms around him, getting as much contact as was possible, feeling his hearts beating again calmed her more than it ever had done before, and for the first time she felt the urgent buzzing of their baby, mentally reaching out to them binding itself to them, differently to their bond with each other, but equally as strong and as persistent, she explosion of feeling made them both gasp and cling tightly to each other, eyes screwed up as they shuddered, their child firmly wrapping its consciousness to theirs. Wide smiles gracing their faces they fell asleep in each other's arms, they could worry about the Doctor and Rose later, all the mattered was them and the feeling of euphoria at being together and just so alive.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry! It's been a while I know but I have had a load of computer issues and then writers block and exams...I'll try and update this super quick I promise :)**

_This is, how we'll dance when, when they try to take us down, this is how we'll sing it, this is how we'll stand when, when they burn our houses down, this is what will be, oh glory. Let the Flames Begin-Paramore_

The Tardis was flying smoothly through the Time Vortex for the first time in what felt like months, she had seemingly been on her best behaviour, mainly because of Zoey's pregnancy and because she really didn't appreciate being hit by a mallet, in fact it made her quite annoyed. So now, as the situation stood, they were stuck in the vortex with a very stubborn Tardis who refused to go anywhere, at all. At first it was amusing seeing the Doctor trying to bribe the old girl, it had been funnier still when the Master tried, he had resorted to kicking her and blaming it on the fact that she was a type 40 Tardis with an attitude problem, it had started to get irritating when Rose had tried, asking the Tardis politely to let them go somewhere, when that had failed, the job had landed expectantly in Zoey's lap, who had asked politely before shouting and screaming and threatening the Tardis with the powers of Presidential office, but all that had been in vain, the Tardis was not going to budge, not this time. On the upside it had given Zoey and the Master the opportunity to announce to the Doctor and Rose that they were getting married, Rose had promptly screamed and enveloped Zoey in a suffocating hug before gushing about dresses, she had however paused and blushed when she realised that Zoey wasn't human and had asked timidly what exactly she was doing. Zoey had merely grinned and said she would have a human wedding with a church and everything to respect the place she held as her second home planet and a make shift Gallifreyan ceremony on the Tardis. The doctor on the other hand stared at her blankly with his mouth hanging wide open and his eyes glazed over. She had taken that as a good sign, and asked him if he would give her away, he had nodded numbly before kissing her on the forehead, tears in his eyes and a grin on his face. Maybe the Master asking him then to be his best man was a bit much because the Doctor had mumbled unintelligibly before collapsing and hitting his head on the control panel, that mishap had resulted in concussion and a stay in the Tardis med bay over night. That had lightened the foul mood that had descended following the Tardis' refusal go anywhere, accidents at the Doctors expense always made everyone feel better.

Zoey sat cross legged on her bedroom floor with her brow furrowed deeply as she tried to take in everything that Rose was saying about dresses as she flicked through a magazine that she had found in the Tardis library, whether that counted as the Tardis being helpful Rose wasn't quite sure. So far Zoey had wrinkled her nose at every dress that Rose had pointed out, none of them seemed to fit the idea she had in her head, she didn't want anything fancy, just a dress, but that was proving harder and more stressful than she had previously thought.

"How about that one?" Rose asked as she pointed to a dress that was modelled on the glossy pages of the magazine

"I'd look like a meringue"

"No you wouldn't"

"Would too"

"Fine!" Rose huffed, annoyed at Zoey's lack of interest "What are you wearing for your Gallifreyan wedding?" she asked out of curiosity

"Oh I'll show you!" Zoey beamed as she picked herself up from her bedroom floor and made her way to her wardrobe, flinging it open carelessly she rummaged through before picking out scarlet robes. "This is what I'm wearing, they're my Presidential robes, I'm supposed to wear this set for special occasions and I thought..."

"Zoey they're perfect, but what should I wear, I mean I'm just human"

"Rose you have never been just human" Zoey smiled as she stuck her head back into the wardrobe and struggled to pull out what looked like another set of robes, only these were a deep gold, with swirls of scarlet running through them "You can wear these"

"Zo I can't, they're beautiful"

"These are the Blyledge House robes, see the badge there, I want you to wear them, it's about time they were worn again, these were my favourites"

"What are the swirls?"

"Oh, they just show what chapter I'm in, they change colour for each person, scarlet means Prydonian, like the Doctor and the Master, try them on, it might change for you, you never know"

"But I'm human"

Zoey merely raised an eyebrow and handed the robes to Rose, who gingerly put them on. They felt heavy only for a few seconds before it felt like they adjusted to her body, fitting comfortably as they moulded to her figure. Rose didn't dare look down, instead she looked to Zoey who was beaming at her, a genuine face splitting smile on her face as she took her in.

"Did they change?"

Zoey nodded, almost in complete disbelief of what she was seeing, she may have lied to Rose just a little, a teeny tiny insy winsy little lie, the robes didn't change for anyone, and certainly not for a human, that was against Time Lord law altogether, they only changed for other time lords, or time lords who had made themselves human, or in this case, a human who carried the time lord genome, buried deep within her DNA.

"What into? What would I be if I was like you?" Rose asked excitedly, this was the first time she had truly felt like part of the little Time Lord family that had formed on the Tardis, with the Doctor being the doting yet very overprotective father, Zoey the rebellious teenager however much she complained that she was an adult, and the Master the fiancé who wanted nothing more than to escape from the madness that was a wedding.

Regaining her lost composure Zoey replied "Blyledge house, like me, but a different chapter it seems, the swirls changed colour a few times as they assessed your mind, but look the swirls are heliotrope you are a member of the Patrexean chapter"

"These can read my mind?"

"Not read it no, the easiest way for me to explain would be comparing them to a Geiger counter, it picks up radiation, the more clicks the higher the radioactivity of the object, the robes do something similar, the mind gives off signals, almost like radiation, the robes pick up exactly how much is given off, each chapter having a set amount, Prydonian would be very high and cerulean very low"

"So, on this scale, where am I?"

"Somewhere very near the top I imagine"

"How can you tell?"

"Exact colour of the swirls, they are a very bright heliotrope, that's high"

Rose smiled and looked down, seeing the bright heliotrope of the swirls that adorned the robes made them look so much different than they had when Zoey had handed them to her, but not any less beautiful, she shrugged the robes off of her body and handed them to Zoey, who by way of explanation, quickly put the robes over herself, the lightening fast colour change stunned Rose to no end, the swirls were back to their original bright scarlet and Zoey hummed appreciatively before putting them back inside her wardrobe, along with her presidential robes.

"Come on back to work"

The Tardis finally had agreed to land after much begging and promises never to kick her again, this was aimed mainly at Zoey and the Master, and not hit her with a mallet when it was completely unnecessary which the Doctor tended to do a lot. So they landed smoothly for the first time in a long while, mainly because the Tardis had refused to let the Doctor use the console, so it was up to Zoey and the Master to drive and they were good, really good. Although where they landed wasn't quite up to Rose and the Doctor's expectations, Zoey never did realise what they hated about Cardiff.

"Look if it's that much of a problem you can just stay here, we only need to refuel anyway" Zoey sighed, eyebrow arched at the look of horror on Rose and the Doctor's face's.

"Fine, don't expect me to go out there with you, the last time I was in Cardiff I got chased by a farmer and his rabid dog because he thought I looked at his sheep funny" the Doctor moaned at Zoey

"Then don't, I'll see you in a few hours, I need to run a few errands" with that Zoey left, leaving the Master, the Doctor and Rose in a stunned silence.

Zoey took a deep breath as she shut the Tardis door behind her, the crisp cool air whipped at her exposed skin, blowing her hair in all directions. She slowly made her determined way toward the water tower in Roald Dahl Plass, her eyes quickly recognising the imprint that had been left by the Tardis, she also spotted Jack emerging from the perception filter and sprinting toward her, grinning she opened her arms to him hugging him as he collided into her.

"Heya Jack, take me to Torchwood"

"What? How did you?"

"Don't insult my intelligence, that name has been following us around, and generally words that follow us are bad, so take me to the base please"

Jack merely nodded and beckoned her to follow him, they headed towards the imprinted area, which Zoey found out was an invisible lift, that, though she loathed admitting it, was quite cool. They decended into an underground base, which looked like some old water works system, Jack had explained that this was the hub, and the HQ of Torchwood 3.

"So why are you here? What do you want exactly?"

"Why do you assume I want something?"

Jack raised an eyebrow expectantly and Zoey sighed "Yes I want something"

"What"

"Fake ID's"

"You sound like a teenager"

Zoey's face immediately deadpanned "You sound like the Doctor. Look I have a feeling that something fishy is about to happen and I need fake ID"

"What for Zo?"

"To get into Torchwood 1"

Jacks mouth dropped as he stared at the woman before him, who showed no hint that she was just kidding, her face was deadly serious, and her mouth set in a firm line as she looked at him.

"Torchwood 1, you're serious?"

"Deadly, I know that something is going to happen and I know that it's going to happen there, please Jack, I just need four fakes that's it"

"Tell me how you know and I'll get straight to it"

"Mini Master told me"

"You're baby told you?"

"Yes"

Upon seeing that she wasn't joking Jack sighed and turned to a computer, typing frantically to find the exact programme.

"Who do you want to be?"

"Anyone, just someone important"

"Well according to the records, the director of Torchwood just quit to work for MI5, I can get you that Job pretty easily"

"Yeah, that's great"

"Okay, Zoey Saxon, Director of Torchwood" he said as he handed her the ID, as it was processed, the card looked 100% real, not even she could tell that it was fake "How about the others?"

"The Master needs to be pretty important too, I don't trust the Doctors acting skills one bit, how about a politician, he'd make a really good politician"

"I can get him in as minister for Defence"

"Perfect"

"Harry Saxon Minister for Defence" again he handed her an official card, Zoey grinned, how Jack had managed to pull photos of them was a question best left for another time, but she admired his work, no one would really doubt these.

"Slot the Doctor and Rose in wherever you can, still senior though, but change their names, coz I have a feeling they will know who Rose is, and my god is John Smith getting old"

Jack chuckled warmly at her "Uhh Rosie Dalton, Assistant Director of UNIT, John Williams Alien Expert UNIT, good enough for you"

"Jack these are absolutely fantastic, thank you so much" she gushed as she hugged him tightly for what seemed like forever, listening to his heartbeat, she liked that, heartbeats.

"I'd do anything for you, you know that" he whispered into her ear

"I know, will you do me another favour?"

"Of course"

"Would you and you're team come to my wedding?"

Jack stiffened, these were the words that he had dreaded, because he didn't know if he could sit and watch as he lost her, not that he had ever had her to start with, but it had been his intention to try at least and now she was truly gone, with the Master of all people, the man/alien Jack hated the most, he didn't really know why, it was just a feeling he got whenever he was around him, like something just wasn't right. Accepting his defeat Jack nodded into her shoulder and Zoey squealed her thanks before untangling herself from him and sprinting out of the hub, leaving him to wallow in his own self pity, blissfully unaware of what her simple question had done to him.

One eventful day followed another, as usual; a day of R&R was completely out of the question. Stopping off at Myo 6 was never a good start; it was almost on par with the Powell estates. A slight disagreement about skirt length caused Rose and Zoey to be jailed by the rather vicious local, and after a disastrous rescue attempt by the Doctor and an offensive shouting match between the Master and their leader which luckily for Rose had not been translated, because even Zoey and the Doctor were red faced, they had all almost been burnt alive at a stake before someone thankfully had started to worship the Doctor's hair, resulting in them being freed and escaping as quickly as they could before the sacrifice that was to be held in their honour. Even though they were all slightly disturbed and vowed never to go there again, the Doctors ego had been inflated to a point where scathing insults in millions of languages by Zoey and the Master barely even scratched it, he had been insufferable ever since.

**One Week Later**

Zoey sat cross legged admiring the wedding ring on her left hand, it was platinum and glittered as the light hit it, she smiled as she read the Gallifreyan inscription over and over again, wondering how long it had taken the jeweller to get the text right, it was notoriously hard, even she struggled with it sometimes and she had learnt it naturally. She traced her finger over the inscription again, reading it as she did so _All I am, all that's left of me, I'm yours. I love you as long as forever lasts. _Tears pricked at her eyes, it still felt strange, being married, she was Mrs Zoey Saxon, and that made her heart beat flutter whenever she thought about it. Her presidential robes were wrapped comfortably around her as she waited to be called into the chamber on the Tardis where the Doctor would marry them in accordance to Gallifreyan law, this wasn't words, not like on Earth, where you repeated a few lines and signed a form, this was more intimate more binding than any other ceremony in the universe. This was inside your head, strengthening the binds that were already tied between them, and the binds to their baby, which was now showing, Zoey had grinned and excitedly woke the Master when she noticed it for the first time a few days ago, she had her scan yesterday and it confirmed what she and Rose had thought, their baby was a boy, and he was growing steadily, at least that's what the doctor said, in three months they would have a little boy to look after, and she couldn't wait for that.

"Zoey, its time" Rose said as she poked her head around the chamber door, her hair falling in ringlets shimmered against the lights, she could see the robes that she had given her to wear, the heliotrope swirls made Zoey grin even wider.

"I'm ready" she breathed, her heart beat fluttering slightly as she stood, take a nervous breath she followed Rose into the room, where she held back a snort at the Doctor's robes and headdress, Rose clearly found it funny too because she smirked and nudged her arm to try and stop her. The master was sat in his Oakdown house robes, grinning at her as she sat opposite him, taking his hands in her own.

Rose watched in awe as the Doctor began to speak, his native language seemed to roll off of his tongue far better than hers did, he sounded wise and a little bit mysterious, addressing Zoey and the Master in turn, he continued to speak, long complicated words that Rose would never be able to pronounce. When the Master answered him, Rose was shocked; it was like she was truly seeing the Master for the first time, raw emotion was evident in his voice when he spoke, even if it was covered with his usual air of arrogance and self confidence, Zoey was even stranger, she sounded so young, but commanding and wise, the words fit her voice so much better than they seemed to fit the Doctor and the Master. Her amazement continued when the words began to make sense to her, like she was hearing the Gallifreyan word being spoken, and then her head was translating to English. She could almost see a thread linking Zoey and the Master together; it was bright silver, winding itself tighter and tighter until it was so thick that nothing could break it, they muttered a few words and the Doctor recoiled from them, squeezing his eyes shut further and shaking his head, looking up at Zoey and the Master who were hugging each other tightly, Rose could feel the charge in the room, the change that had brought them here, that combined Zoey and the Master in ways that Rose couldn't possibly imagine.

**So there we have it :) Hope you enjoyed this one, next up is Army of Ghosts/Doomsday because I cant put it off any longer **

**Please Review**

**xxTeamMasterxx  
**


	15. Chapter 15

_In any other world, you could tell the difference, and let it all unfurl, into broken remnants, smile like you mean it, and let yourself let go. Coz it's all in the hands of a bitter bitter man, say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in, take a bow play the part of a lonely lonely heart, say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in, to the world you thought you lived in. Any other world- Mika_

The Tardis landed with an awkward clatter outside the Powell Estates, the old girl was almost hesitant in her landing, and that in itself was unusual the Doctor pondered as Rose rushed past him lugging a huge red bag of what he presumed was washing for Jackie to sort out for her, why she didn't just ask the Tardis was beyond him.

"You ready then?" the Doctor asked her, leaning against the console casually, as he watched Rose nod enthusiastically and bound out of the Tardis with a smile on her face, turning back he sucked in the biggest lungful of air he could manage and shouted "OI YOU TWO GET OUT HERE NOW WE'RE GOING!"

Zoey, now visibly pregnant, and the Master stalked down the corridor, matching frowns on their faces "There was no need to shout" Zoey huffed as she made her way out of the Tardis doors, grumbling under her breath. The Master, simply following with a bemused smile on his face, patting the doctor sympathetically on the shoulder, and nodding in understanding at the baffled look on the Doctors face.

"I will never understand women" the doctor mumbled to himself as he stepped outside.

Xx

Rose pushed open the door of her mums flat excitedly, she had so many stories of their adventures that she wanted to tell her, and she was practically bursting trying to keep them all in. Quickly surveying the inside it didn't look as if much had changed in however long it was since they had last been here, after all of her travelling with the little time lord family, she still couldn't keep track of the time spent on the Tardis, which was a little sad to say the least. Grinning when she heard footsteps she shouted "Mum, it's us we're baack!"

The exasperated face of Jackie Tyler greets them as she admonishes Rose "I don't even know why you have a phone, you never use it!" pulling her into a tight hug.

The Doctor, Zoey and the Master take this as their chance to sneak past Jackie, slowly tiptoeing their way into the living room, Zoey managing first, silently punches her fist into the air whispering about shocking ninja skills, causing the Master to hide a snort as he joins her. The Doctor however isn't as lucky, Jackie quickly lets go of Rose and grabs him. Kissing him fondly on the cheek, with the Doctor writhing frantically to escape her grasp, looking very much like a child with an over affectionate mother, causing Rose, the Master and Zoey to burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter at his expense, laughing more still when all they could hear were the Doctor's pleading cries of "Put me down, Jackie just PUT ME DOWN!"

Rose giggling and completely unable to let the Doctor continue to endure that kind of torture from her mum, no matter how hilarious it was, "Mum! I got a load of washing here for you!" she called, making Jackie plant one last kiss on the Doctor and amble toward her daughter, who was grinning with her tongue poking mischievously between her teeth. "And I got you this" Rose says as she shows Jackie a small object in the palm of her hand, "It's from a market on this asteroid bazaar, uh what's it made of again?" Rose calls back to the time lords who have slyly escaped Jackie once again.

"Bezoolium" they all call together, making Rose grin affectionately

"Bezoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's gonna rain - when it's hot, it's gonna be sunny! You can use it to tell the weather!" she says excitedly almost bouncing on the balls of her feet at the brilliance of the object.

Jackie offers a small smile before answering "I've got a surprise for you an all", leading Rose further toward the Kitchen.

"Oh great, I get you a Bezoolium and not so much as a thank you" Rose huffs, folding her arms across her chest petulantly

"It's your Grandad, Grandad Prentice, he'll be here any minute" Jackie announces, a pleased smile on her face as she walks into the kitchen to make them all tea.

Rose stares after her mum in stunned silence as the three Time Lords join her in the safety of Jackie's retreating form, the Doctor slipping his arms around her waist, pulling her snugly against him, placing a soft kiss on her neck. Rose leans her head against his shoulder in delight, almost completely forgetting what her mum had just said to her, focusing entirely on the things the doctor could do with his tongue. Retching noises brought her out of her blissful reverie, snapping her head around to glare at the Master, who had the good sense to stop what he was doing. Disentangling herself from the Doctor, kissing him softly, she stalked toward the Master, who's lip twitched in a hint of a smile as he crossed his arms over his chest arrogantly, raising a questioning eyebrow at her.

"No one ever stopped you and Zoey" she hissed at him, pointing a threatening finger at his chest

Holding his arms up in mock surrender, the Master chuckled and muttered his apologies before asking "What did you look so freaked about before the Doctor molested you"

Rose scowled and smacked him as hard as she could, smiling smugly when she saw him wince, her face softened however when she told him what had scared her "She's gone mad, grandad Prentice is her dad, but he died like 10 years ago, my god she's lost it"

Zoey, sat apprehensively on the sofa, the butterflies in her stomach had intensified about what was to come, she wasn't worried about infiltrating Torchwood 1 that was easy enough, it was the acting that followed she was worried about, she wasn't sure how easily she would be able to pull this one off, not this time. Sighing heavily she listened to the vague conversations of Ghosts that were happening around her, and she snuggled further into the comfort of the Masters mind, where everything felt safe, where she knew that nothing could ever hurt her.

"Zoey, any ideas?" the Doctor calls from across the room

"Huh?" Zoey replies

"On how to deal with these Ghosts" he says staring in concern

"Oh, it's about time as well, I know everything about these ghosts, and I know where they are coming from, and I know who's controlling it" she grins happily, only a slight trace of nervousness flickering in her eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat she gets up, frowning when she realises that it is no way as easy as it used to be.

Walking confidently through the corridors of Torchwood Tower, Zoey allowed herself the smallest of shivers, the whole place just seemed so clinical, which was a bit pathetic coming from a doctor, her confidence was starting to waver as yet again she found herself lost with no hope of getting to where she needed to be, a certain Yvonne Hartman's office, which was proving to be difficult to find. It should be simple compared to the trickery she had used to actually make the scanners believe she was human. Huffing in defeat she wandered aimlessly to doors that littered wherever she had found herself, none of these doors where the one she was looking for, a voice brought her out of her confusion.

"Can I help you?" the voice asked, clearly female, smiling at her warmly, with no hint of question behind her eyes.

Zoey's groggy brain sprang to life and she offered a weak smile in return "Uh yeah, I'm looking for Yvonne Hartman"

The woman smiled wider and nodded "Yeah if you wanna come with me, I can take you to her if you like, do you have an appointment?"

"Yeah, what's your name?"

"Adeola"

"Nice to meet you Adeola, I'm Zoey Saxon" she offered, flashing Adeola a bright grin

"Oh god I had no idea, it's an honour Director"

Furrowing her brow for a fraction of a second before it clicked Zoey nodded "Uh thanks, it's no big deal you know"

"It is, just you wait till I tell Gareth, he will be so jealous that I met you" Adeola rambled happily, stopping abruptly outside of a door labelled _Yvonne Hartman. _"Here you are"

"I'm sure I walked past here" Zoey groaned, rubbing her hand tiredly over her face

"Don't worry about it, everyone gets lost here, the place is enormous, well it was great to meet you Director, but I have to get back to work"

"Of course, thanks a lot for your help"

"It was my pleasure" and with that she turned and left, leaving Zoey stood alone outside of the door, knocking three times she pushed it open to be greeted with a blustering Yvonne, who was hurriedly putting bits of paper into a filing cabinet. Smirking, Zoey leant casually against the door frame, watching Yvonne work herself into a state of panic.

"You need a hand with that?" Zoey asked from the door, smirk still plastered over her face as Yvonne shrieked in surprise.

"God"

"No Zoey's fine" she quipped as she plopped herself into the rather comfy chair in the middle of the office, stretching herself as she did so.

Yvonne simply stood looking confused before she sat down opposite the strange woman who had just sat on her chair, surveying her carefully, she couldn't be more than twenty three at least, she was tall, and pregnant, well that was new. Leaning forward purposefully she asked "So who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm your 10.30, I'm Zoey Saxon, new Director of Torchwood"

That stunned her, Zoey mused as she watched the shocked expression of the woman in front of her, causing her smirk to widen into an almost grin, she knew that would get her, there was something about Yvonne that she just didn't like, not one little bit, and she would feel so much better if the Master would hurry up and get his admittedly amazing arse up here pronto.

"I apologise Director, you just seemed so young" Yvonne babbled, evidently embarrassed

"It isn't a problem, I'm just here to discuss these ghosts"

"Ah yes-"

Whatever Yvonne was about to say was cut off by a sharp knock of the door and its subsequent opening revealing a smugly grinning Master, a red faced Doctor, and Rose biting her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"Hello Harry Saxon, Minister for Defence" The master said, with his usual charming smile, offering Yvonne his hand to shake. Zoey allowed herself another smug smile _Rassilon was he smooth_ she thought watching him work with pride. "This is Rosie Dalton, assistant director of UNIT and John Williams Alien expert" The Master announced pompously, flicking his hand in Rose and the Doctor's general direction "We're here about these ghosts"

Yvonne simply stood staring, her mouth open slightly as she tried to compose a reply to the group of people that were standing in front of her all demanding to know about the ghosts, she cast her stare to the Director of Torchwood, who gave her a small smile in return. Swallowing hard Yvonne straightened, crossing her arms across her chest defensively. "Well, the ghosts, we cant be sure what they are"

"How did they get here for a start?" Zoey asked, pushing herself up from the sofa, levelling her gaze at Yvonne

"That's exactly the point we don't know, there was this sphere first and then ghosts"

"I'm sorry a sphere, I wasn't informed of this" The master said, pulling a face in mock annoyance

"Where is this sphere, it could be a risk to the general public and it's my job to make sure that isn't the case" Rose said confidently, moving out from behind the comforting shield of the Masters endless arrogance

"Well of course, I could show you"

"Please do"

Jackie Tyler stood impatiently in the Tardis, not only had they kidnapped her, they had just left her here, with no idea where she really was. Feeling brave, she pushed open the doors, despite a loud whining sound that the ship seemed to make to her, she found herself outside the skyscraper at Canary Wharf. Huffing to herself, she marched toward it, only to be grabbed by two burly men as she entered the building, kicking and screaming Jackie Tyler was dragged away.

Zoey stared at the sphere with horror, her shaking hands were stuffed inconspicuously into her pockets, this couldn't be here, it was impossible, there wasn't supposed to be any such thing as a void ship, it was a legend, or at least it was until now. There was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind telling her that she had seen this ship somewhere before, but she couldn't place it. She listened as Yvonne told them the events that had led up-to the moment the sphere had arrived, apparently Torchwood three had been reporting unusually high amounts of rift activity, Zoey gave a smile when she thought of Jack having to sort out paperwork that was involved in report writing. Yvonne was cut off by the door hissing open behind her revealing a pair of guards and Jackie Tyler. Sighing heavily she ran her hand through her hair, as she heard the Master, Rose and the Doctor all do the same thing.

"Ma'am we found this civilian trying to enter the building"

"Oi lemme go! Doctor tell them to let me go!" Jackie shouted as she struggled against the guards, not seeing the Doctor shaking his head vehemently at her to stop talking "Doctor if I get so much as one bruise so help me I will throttle you"

Yvonne turned to the Doctor, who's hand was tugging his ear nervously "Ok you got me" he sighs "That's a void ship, it's designed to travel outside of time and space, in the space in-between worlds, the time lords call it the void, the eternals call it the howling, others including humans call it hell" he babbles monotonously in explanation as he is led away with Jackie, the Master following claiming that the doctor could be a security risk.

"Looks like it's just us then" Zoey says darkly to Rose, who nods and gives a weak smile to Rajesh, who was looking just as confused as they felt.

"You're not the director of Torchwood are you?" Rajesh asks suddenly, looking Zoey up and down from his seat by the computer

Zoey lightly shakes her head "No, no I'm not, not really anyway"

"Then who are you?"

"I'm Zoey Saxon; I'm a Time Lord, the Lord President of the Time Lords in fact"

"Time _Lord_, that sounds a little, well masculine" he stammers at her, blushing at the nape of his neck.

Letting out a sardonic laugh Zoey locks eyes with him "My people weren't concerned with gender specific names, they never really made it out of the dark ages if I'm honest" trailing off, lost in thoughts of her time back on the planet that was her home, of all the times that she played in the red grass as a child, of all the times she cursed them for not seeing the universe as she did, of all the times that she wanted nothing more than to get away from them and for all the times that she stayed anyway because they needed her, like she needed them. Without them she was half the person that she should be, even if she had the Master, she needed people to fight with, to laugh with, to curse in a million languages for being so obtuse, to make them better, less corrupt, to try and get them to engage with the universe whilst maintaining the absolute power that they had seemed to love more than anything else. For all their faults, the stubbornness, the pig ignorance, the contempt of anything off world, she could cope with that, they were changing slowly, before the war; she had started to see a difference in them that held a glimmer of hope for the future. But the war had changed everything.

"Zoey" Rose said quietly, prodding her friends arm to try and snap her out of the trance that she seemed to be in. Zoey had just seemed to space out, and nothing was helping, not even the announcement of the ghost shift which should have had her pacing the room trying to figure out a way to stop it, she should have accidently alerted Rajesh that his aide Samuel was really Mickey and she was Rose Tyler the Doctors companion/lover at which she would have pulled a face in disgust and continued to rattle off curses at a hundred miles an hour for making a mistake. "Zoey" Rose tried again as the room began to shake, prodding her harder, this time breaking her trance.

"The sphere is active!" Rajesh says excitedly "It has mass, it has an electromagnetic field this is brilliant"

"Trust me when I say this Rajesh, this is in no way brilliant, something very dangerous is inside there and we are locked in" Zoey growls at him, standing to full height, glaring at the sphere that is shaking violently above her.

Mickey steps up behind her, shrugging off his lab coat "We followed the cyber men through, and have just the thing to kill them with" he says as he grabs a gun from behind the monitor he was working at.

"Samuel what are you doing?"

"Its Mickey, Mickey Smith, defending the Earth"

"I don't think that's cybermen" Zoey says gravely

Four Daleks glide out of the sphere, their eyestalks rapidly surveying the area that they have found themselves in.

"Oh my god" Rose gasps, a shiver running down her spine at the creatures that have haunted her nightmares for so long, she glances at Zoey who looks murderous.

"After all this time, why can't you just stay DEAD? YOU JUMPED UP PEPPER POTS!" she screams, her fists clenched so tightly that blood is pooling around her fingers.

"Location: Earth, Life Forms detected! Exterminate!" they bleated as they reached the ground, Zoey shaking with uncontrollable anger.

"Time Lord: Female, you are the enemy"

Zoey's mood seemed to change rapidly, she looked almost happy "Oh really? That's nice can I have a certificate?" she asked sarcastically, clicking her tongue at the four Daleks before her.

"Scans confirm you are Lord President Mae Rassilon"

"I bet they do" she smirked crossing her arms in a flawless imitation of the Master

"You destroyed Skaro"

"Yep that's me, although I have to admit it wasn't exactly hard, what kind of defence was that supposed to be? No wonder Davros fell into the jaws of the Nightmare Child" she sneered, but her taunting was halted by one of the Daleks firing an extermination beam at her, narrowly dodging it, she looked at the Daleks with terror, chest rising and falling rapidly as adrenaline rushed through her blood.

"You will cease speaking, what is the status of the genesis ark"

"Status-Hibernation"

"Oh no" Zoey whispered "How did they get that?"

Rose looked at Zoey worriedly, whatever the genesis ark was it must be bad because it had Zoey freaked, she didn't think she had ever seen Zoey like this, she was teetering on the brink of madness, taunting the Daleks was something you just didn't do, unless you wanted to die of course, this wasn't the Zoey that she knew. Or maybe, a voice said somewhere in the back of her head, this is the real Zoey, and you've just never seen her before. Swallowing thickly, she grasped onto whatever confidence she had and shouted "Daleks, you're called Daleks. Think about it a human who knows about the Daleks, how is that then?"

"Rose what are you doing?" Zoey hissed at her, her eyebrows knotted in confusion

"Saving our lives, since you won't"

_Ouch_

"Yeah Daleks me too" Mickey says desperately, holding his gun close to his chest, finger pressed ready against the trigger.

"Yeah and me" Rajesh adds blindly

Scowling Zoey tries to divert the attention of the Daleks that are now advancing on the humans, "Helloo still here, do want to know how I destroyed your planet?" silence "That's a no then"

"Which of you is the least important?"

"None of us, it doesn't work like that" Rose fires adamantly, glaring at the metal creatures in front of her

"State the least important"

"NO!"

"I am" Zoey says, holding her hands up, walking towards the three resisting humans, who she felt a surge of sheer pride for, especially Rose, staring death in the face again and not even batting an eyelid. "Do what you want"

"No, the Lord President must be kept; you will open the genesis ark"

"Take me" Rajesh says, stepping forward to Dalek Sek, not giving Rose or Mickey a glance as he is ordered to kneel before them.

Zoey turns her head, squeezing her eyes shut, she has seen this so many times that she doesn't need another reminder.

The Master shook with pure rage as he shoved the Doctor up against the wall, winding his best friend in the process "Daleks Doctor, she's down there with DALEKS, ALONE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHE MIGHT DO DOWN THERE!" he snarled, giving the Doctor another hard shove.

"You think I don't know that, Rose is down there!" he shouted back, struggling against the Master's stronghold.

"No Doctor you don't understand, she might do something incredibly stupid, you don't know what they did to her" The Master's voice was shaking, his face ashen as he held the doctor against the wall, grip loosening ever so slightly so that the Doctor had the strength to push him off.

"Master, what did they do to her?"

The Master shook his head in despair as he gave a longing glance at the monitor that was displaying the CCTV footage of the vault below them, taking in a deep breath, he cast his gaze once again to the doctor "When she went to reason with Davros, you and me both know it wasn't the outcome that we wanted, he wasn't going to back down, and somehow he knew that Zoey was going to be there, so he kidnapped her friends, her closest friends. And he made her choose between them, which should live, and which should die. She refused to go along with it, so he had them torture her, her friends didn't bat an eyelid, they just went right ahead and did what they were asked, they tortured her for days. Every time she was on the brink of death, they would force her body to heal itself. I couldn't help her, they made me watch as she struggled against the people she called friends and all the time she was screaming, because the Daleks had this machine that could get into the Time Lord brain, and cause massive amounts of neurological damage, it was killing her. Eventually they asked her to choose, and every time she didn't this machine attacked her brain, and they kept increasing the level, she cracked and she picked, as they killed them, they made her feel their pain. They killed all of them before we managed escape"

The Doctor just gaped, open mouthed at the Master's tale, tears leaking freely from his eyes "She never said"

"She doesn't remember, at least not yet, I had no choice but to erase it the best I could, I may have been a cold hearted bastard at that point, but even _I_ couldn't leave her like that, she was broken, and I made her whole again, or at least almost, she was just a kid" the Master whispered memories of war flashing savagely before his eyes, taunting him with everything they had lost.

"You never said, how you changed" The Doctor said softly, resting his hand on the Masters shoulder as means of comfort.

"That, is a story for another time" The Master smiled weakly, nodding at the Doctor in silent thanks.

"So tell me, why haven't you killed me yet?" Zoey asked, lips pursing in a mixture of confusion and annoyance as she faced the four Daleks "And, who the bloody hell are you?"

"You are needed to open the Genesis ark"

"I don't want the rhetoric I want the truth, because I know exactly what that thing is and I know that to open it you need the one thing a Dalek can't do, touch. But not just any touch, and that's the genius of it if I do say so myself, you need the touch of either a newly regenerated Time Lord, or someone who has travelled in time very frequently, coz they're full of Artron energy, considering that the only time lords left are the doctor the master and myself, and coincidentally we were the only ones who frequently travelled in time, you can use anyone in this room, so cut the crap why me?"

"You are the Lord President; you will bring devastation and genocide once again"

Zoey's eyes narrowed as her breath hitched in her throat "I had no choice, this time I do, and your answer is still no"

"Your father, Lord Rassilon, would not have hesitated"

"HOW DARE YOU! Never speak about him like that in front of me! My father was a good man and you're not worthy to utter is name" she spat as she took a menacing step forward, her clenched fists causing her already bloodied palms to drip the thick golden liquid to the floor, she was so numb and consumed with an all encompassing anger at the mention of her father by these monsters that she couldn't feel the pain of her sliced open palms.

"You never answered her question, who are you?" Rose demanded, bringing herself to stand next to the Time Lord, putting a reassuring hand on her arm, hoping that it would also double as a restraint to the young time lord who, if Rose had heard correctly, just snarled.

"We are the Cult of Skaro" the answered together, sounding almost confident

"I am Dalek Sek"

"Dalek Caan"

"Dalek Thay"

"Dalek Jast"

A shot of pure unadulterated fear flew down Zoey's spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She was sure that she had heard those names before, but she couldn't quite place them. Her mind was whirring at a million miles an hour as she tried to comprehend the magnitude of the situation she had found herself in this time, with Daleks, the very beings that had haunted her darkest nightmares for over 100 years. She could feel the Masters worry echoing loudly through her consciousness, and his anger combined with her own, the force of which was straining so hard against her skull she felt like she was going to explode, it wrapped itself around her, choking every ounce of mercy and pity from her until she was looking at the Daleks with red tinged vision. She understood it now, how the old master was compelled to live in such anger, it was seductive; tempting her with everything it had. She felt herself being drawn further in, never had she been whiter than white, and never had she been consumed by the blackness, she had always been the shade of grey, standing firmly between the Doctor and the Master, opposite ends the spectrum, that hung by a thread, one that she found herself treading cautiously like a tightrope. She had never understood the Doctor's mercy, and never had she truly understood the Master's brutality. But as the tendrils of hate, and fear, and pain, and anger wrestled for the control of her soul, she could feel that grey slipping away, to be taken over by blackness that was working its way through her. Then something sparked inside her, a white light that she had never noticed before, and it was fighting her corner, pushing back the blackness that was so close to succeeding. A surge of pride rushed through her body; she was the Lord President of the Time Lords, the last surviving member of the Rassilon bloodline. She had fought to save the universe from the blackness that was trying to consume her. Her heritage wouldn't let her fall, she held the power of the universe in her hands, the Laws of Time were rightfully hers, and she wouldn't let herself use them for the wrong reasons. She was alive, when so many billions had fallen, and she'd be damned if she would lose now, after all this time. She felt the soothing white light heal the scorches on her soul that the darkness had left behind, returning it to the usual shade of grey. Staring the Daleks down, her mouth twitched in contempt.

"How did you escape the war?" she asked, wincing as she felt the pain in her sliced palms

"We had to survive" they answered together once again

"I didn't ask why. I asked how"

The Daleks were silent, simply moving their eyestalks around the room, before focusing on the rings on her left hand.

"You are weak" Dalek Sek announced, eyestalk scrutinising her face.

"And you won't answer my question" she countered pompously, straightening in superiority that was ingrained within every atom of her existence.

"We had to survive" they repeated

Realisation dawned upon Zoey, like a cold chill seeping through her body, they had ran, ran from the war that had claimed so many millions. Her people, her friends, her family, they had all fallen fighting for their lives, when these cowards had ran. "You ran, you cowards" she hissed, staring at them with loathing.

"Survival is the only option, Daleks are supreme!" they chanted

"All right, all right no need to get your knickers in a twist" the voice floated arrogantly across the room, instantly easing the tension that had built a fortress through Zoey's body. Zoey turned slowly, almost unwilling to believe that he could be here, right when she needed him the most. His self assured strutting betrayed his natural air of social elitism and pompous indifference. When his eyes finally locked with hers he smiled sweetly and her soul cried out for him to hold her and to protect her. The Master's hand slipped comfortingly into her eagerly awaiting palm, twining their fingers in what was almost second nature. Face hardening as he turned an icy glare to the Daleks, pulling Zoey possessively into his side.

"How dare you even speak to her!" He raged at them "After everything you have done!"

The Daleks inched back at his sudden outburst, almost as if he scared them. But they immediately regrouped and repeated their initial accusations. "You are weak, Lord Master"

The Master was taken aback, blinking in confusion at their respect for his title, his eyes narrowed as he hissed "How am I weak?"

"You are in love"

"And? You're point is?"

"Love makes you act human, humans are inferior"

Rose scowled, marching forwards to stand alongside the two livid Time Lords. "Humans are _not _inferior" she growled "If Humans are so inferior then how is it that I took the time vortex and poured it into the head of your emperor? I turned him to dust, him and an entire army"

"You murdered the emperor!"

"Too right I did, and you know what, I lived and it made me stronger, when Daleks and Time Lords alike would have failed, so don't you tell me Humans are inferior"

"No they most certainly aren't" the doctor announces proudly as he struts into the room, flashing Rose a smile that makes her melt on the spot she grins widely at him, feeling a million times better for having him here with her.

Zoey flinched as the Doctor grabbed her arms roughly, looking hard into her eyes, giving her a small shake he asked "What is it Zoey? What is the Genesis Ark?"

Stammering she answered carefully "I-It's Time Lord technology, bigger on the inside" clamping her mouth shut again she tried to stare him down as pain sliced through her abdomen, biting back the scream and the tears that threatened to cascade down her cheeks.

"But what is it for!"

"IT'S A PRISON SHIP!" she screamed, the heaving of her chest increasing her discomfort "There are millions of Daleks in there, and now..." she trailed off, the implications of what had just happened in that room finally sinking in for the Doctor.

"Now they are free" Rose whispered her voice cracking in worry.

"Master, get Zoey to the Tardis and stay there, the baby is coming now, I need you both away from here!"

The Master nodded numbly, Daleks and his wife having his baby on the same day, judging by the way she was already clutching his hand, he would rather take on the million daleks. He started to help her away when Zoey determinedly shook her head and staggered to Rose. Pulling her aside and whispering quickly into her ear. The Master saw tears leak from Rose's eyes and then a smile spread across her face before she nodded resolutely at Zoey.

Staggering back to the Tardis, the Master turned questioningly to Zoey "You told her?"

"Yeah, she deserves to know"

"Oh sweet Rassilon" the Master squeaked as he tried deliver their baby "I can't do this!"

"Don't you dare give up! This is your fault!"

"My fault!"

"Yes YOURS"

"It takes two to tango darling"

"You are never touching me again!"

"Oh come on that's a little harsh, and besides you've seduced me plenty of times, I suppose that's my fault as well!"

"Right now Koschei EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT!"

"Be rational for a minute..."

"Get this baby out of ME!"

"Sorry, I... ohhh god"

"Master, I swear if you don't do something right now!"

"Ok push!"

"You think I don't know that!"

"I'm trying to be helpful!

"Just shut up and GET. THE. BABY. OUT!"

"Almost there now Zo"

Zoey squeezed her eyes shut as she pushed with her last remaining ounce of strength, she heard the wail of new life and flopped herself down on the bed, rubbing as much sweat as she could from her brow, she grinned madly as she watched the Master gaze lovingly into the eyes of their son. Eventually he tore his eyes from the baby wrapped in blankets to Zoey, beaming at her with tears leaking freely from his eyes; he passed his little boy to her, kissing her fondly on the head and murmuring thank yous to her so much that they had joined into one word.

"Hello little man" Zoey whispered, tracing her finger down her baby's cheek "Welcome to the Tardis", she felt the Masters chuckle vibrate through her body.

"We need to give him a name" the Master whispered, placing his lips on her forehead once more "I was thinking, we should name him after the Doctor"

Zoey practically broke her neck as she snapped around to face him, the Master looked completely serious, and she nodded to him. "Not his full name obviously, because I am not cursing my child with a name like that"

Laughing softly Zoey added "No, every letter of the alphabet in your name is a bit of mouthful"

"I was thinking that we could give him the Doctors old nickname"

"Theta?"

"Yeah, suits him don't you think?"

"Theta James Saxon" Zoey announced looking proudly at her son

"James?"

"Rose suggested it, and it stuck"

"Theta James Saxon I like it" the Master paused for a moment before smirking "Lord Theta Rassilon, what a formidable title that is" The Master laughed "It makes me think that the Doctor has accidently hijacked the name"

"Well now you are Lord Master Rassilon, that sounds ridiculous"

"Hey! No mocking the name"

Zoey smiled tiredly and snuggled into the master, trying not to dwell on the events that were about to unfold.

**Urgh this chapter took forever and it's a monster. I am so sorry it took this long, writers block with University stuff has thrown me completely. I haven't even tied this whole chapter up properly so I am really sorry about it. But Rose is in the Parallel world, but she will be back. I am heading straight into Series three, with a short interlude introducing the Doctor to baby Theta. I will basically only cover the Human Nature double, and the last three episodes of the series but I will write interim chapters when I have time.**

**Love xxTeam-Masterxx**


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